“How Can Girls Be This Brave?” Director Kim Min-ha Talks ‘Student Teaching’ and the Power of Girls

“How can girls be this brave?”

After the previous work ‘Amoeba Girls and School Ghost Stories: School Anniversary,’ Director Kim Min-ha received this question from Indonesian girl viewers. That question led to another story about “brave girls.” Enter ‘Student Teaching,’ a “horror-lovely” comedy about girls who may not be great in the traditional sense, but are amazing and lovely.

‘Student Teaching’ is a horror comedy about Eun-gyeong (played by Han Sun-hwa), a passionate MZ student teacher who must take a “death mock exam” against a CSAT ghost, alongside girls from a black magic club. It opens exclusively at CGV on the 13th.

In this work, Director Kim Min-ha continues the narrative of girls facing ghosts, just like in the previous film. However, the horror elements have been scaled back to put comedy front and center. The reason is simple: the director is terrified of horror. Kim Min-ha confessed in a recent meeting with Sports Seoul, “I really hate scary things.”

“When I was young, I watched ‘Ju-on’ and had to take herbal medicine and receive prayers from a pastor. I still get startled when I see kids who look like Toshio. So, I originally didn’t watch horror movies. But while dreaming of becoming a director, I heard that rookies should debut with horror. I had no choice.”

Director Kim Min-ha’s start was unconventional, but the movie is even more so. Horror is essentially used as a tool, while the core is comedy. This is because it was made by a horror director who can’t watch horror. Driven by the idea that if ghosts are so scary and intimidating, their authority should be completely brought down.

That’s why horror and comedy were mixed from the previous work. This process had side effects. When the previous film was released, it was promoted as “horror,” which led to some backlash.

“Viewers who gave 1 star and 10 stars were fighting. They told each other not to spread viral marketing (laughs). Actually, I didn’t want the audience to be scared because of the ghosts. When I saw ‘Ju-on,’ Toshio followed me even outside the theater. Because of those memories, I wanted the ghosts to stay inside the theater. Ghosts should only exist within that screen. That part was the comedy.”

However, the comedy in this film isn’t simple. It goes beyond B-movie style, sometimes reaching a quirky “Z-grade” level. Director Kim Min-ha compared this to a “pitch mix in baseball.” Just as a pitcher confuses a batter, the director keeps throwing moments that make the audience wonder, “What is this?” It’s a method of hiding decisive laugh points between casual jokes.

At the center of this strange rhythm are teenage girls once again. Director Kim Min-ha vividly depicted the world of high school girls with a unique sensibility. This is even more interesting considering the director graduated from an all-boys high school.

“Ghosts appearing in an all-boys high school? I can’t imagine it. It’s obvious how that would be handled (laughs). But a girls’ high school was strangely imaginable. However, since I might misunderstand, I kept getting feedback from female staff and my younger sister.”

But there was an unexpected variable. Ghosts representing the “Language, Math, and Foreign Language” sections appear in the movie, but the actual CSAT names had already changed to “Korean, Math, and English.” This was discovered after the movie was completed.

“I’m usually very good at listening to feedback, but I really don’t remember this. But if it was such an important point, shouldn’t someone have grabbed me by the collar and told me?”

Despite the boldness, Director Kim Min-ha continues to offer a “national apology” at every stage greeting and GV.

While the set was cheerful, there were realistic difficulties. Due to the disappointing box office performance of the previous work, the production budget was cut by more than half, and the director experienced burnout. Ironically, it was “girls,” like the protagonists in the movie, who helped them get back up.

“The previous work gained attention again as a ‘Girls’ Night’ recommendation on Watcha and hit number one. Lead actress Kim Do-yeon also won the Best New Actress award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. That’s when the spark returned. This movie is a story about the friendship of girls. I’m grateful that, in reality, that friendship seemed to revive the movie.”

Another source of courage came from the audience met in Jakarta, Indonesia. The question asked by girls wearing hijabs after the preview stayed in the director’s heart for a long time.

“They asked, ‘How can girls be this brave?’ I still remember the look in their eyes.”

‘Student Teaching’ is also a story of such brave girls. At the same time, it contains a critical perspective on the collapse of teacher authority. The starting point of the film was the 2023 death of a teacher at Seo-i Elementary School.

“This movie opens two days before Teacher’s Day. I hope it becomes a movie that can protect someone. The diversity of Korean cinema and the teachers who are still guarding the classrooms. I hope they don’t grieve alone. I hope this movie becomes a small act of solidarity.”