[Slate] It's Okay to Be a Ragtag Team... The Power of Solidarity in "High Five"

The Struggle of Superhumans for a Just Social Order
Their Opponent: A Cult Leader Exploiting Social Vulnerabilities
Solidarity Emerges Even Without Beautiful Coexistence

The movie "High Five" tells the story of people who acquire superpowers after receiving organ transplants from a mysterious man. Each person manifests a different ability. Wanseo (Lee Jaein), a middle school student who lost both her studies and friends due to heart disease, gains superhuman strength and agility. Jiseong (Ahn Jaehong), who is unemployed, acquires extraordinary lung capacity. Gidong (Yoo Ain), who is in a similar situation, develops the ability to control electromagnetic waves. Yakseon (Kim Heewon), a labor inspector, obtains powerful healing abilities.

Movie 'High Five' Still Cut

Although each of them has a different story, they share a common trait: they all dream of leading ordinary lives with close relationships to others. Their journeys do not begin smoothly, due to inexperience and a tendency to avoid responsibility. Some are confronted with demands for accountability and become trapped by their own vulnerabilities. They either try to avoid these challenges or become isolated and withdrawn.

Director Kang Hyoungcheol points to solidarity as a turning point. The characters come to realize that the anxiety and sense of inferiority they believed to be unique to themselves are, in fact, intricately connected to others and to society as a whole. By highlighting mutual dependence and the ethos that mediates it, the film reduces the individual burdens and removes unnecessary responsibilities from each character.

At the same time, the film opens up the possibility of resolving the resulting instability through collective and systematic means. In this context, the opposite of instability is not stability, but rather the struggle for a just social order in which interdependence operates to make life worth living.

Ironically, the antagonist they face is Youngchun (Shin Goo, Park Jinyoung), who also received a pancreas transplant from the same donor. He uses his ability to steal the youth of others without hesitation, harming people in the process. In order to acquire the other superpowers for himself, he kidnaps Wanseo and her companions one by one.

Movie 'High Five' Still Cut

As a cult leader, he has exploited the property and happiness of others countless times. He is a dictator who has persistently exploited society's vulnerabilities to build his own power. He assigns himself a representative status to secure a permanent position and justifies his exploitation through explicit or implicit markers. After gaining superpowers and regaining his youth, he seeks to expand his influence to a wider world.

However, the vulnerabilities of others are not only linked to the possibility of being hurt. They can also manifest as resistance that develops into openness in an unpredictable world. The film reveals that responsiveness to unfolding events is both a function and an effect of vulnerability.

Director Kang symbolizes this through heightened senses?touch, sight, smell, hearing, and mobility. Unlike the followers whose senses are suppressed, Wanseo and her group perceive the situation clearly and respond proactively. However, they are not powerful enough to completely overpower Youngchun. Although they have become superhuman, their vulnerabilities remain.

Vulnerability is a potential or explicit trait that arises from experience. It tends to manifest dependently not only in relation to others but also in the ongoing world. Therefore, courage must be expressed in a united form, rather than through individual strategies, in order to achieve resistance. This is why Director Kang consistently portrays Wanseo and her companions as a ragtag group, yet highlights their interdependence at the end to create a reversal.

Movie still cut from "High Five"

Strictly speaking, interdependence cannot be seen as a state of social harmony or beautiful coexistence. People may be strangers to one another or find themselves in unexpected relationships. In forming solidarity with others, one must accept certain dimensions that were not chosen.

Nevertheless, strength is rarely dispersed or weakened. Whether in public squares or on social networks, impressive and effective bonds of solidarity are created. The power of solidarity can shine just as brightly under unforeseen circumstances as it does in intentional agreements entered into by our own will?even if the group appears to be a ragtag team.