South Korea Synopsis
말죽거리 잔혹사
“Spirit of jeet kune do.”
A model student transfers to the notorious Jungmoon High School known for its severe corporal punishment by teachers and power struggles between school gangs.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Once Upon a Time in High School. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From CJ Entertainment
Romance + Drama in South Korea
150 South Korea titles in our catalog blend the Romance and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Once Upon a Time in High School itself).
The 2003–2005 South Korea Window
Once Upon a Time in High School holds position #19 of 113 South Korea films in the 2003–2005 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 2000s South Korea Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 2000s in South Korea, 321 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Once Upon a Time in High School premiered alongside 36 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 36 other South Korea films in 2004.
The 145th South Korea title from South Korea we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1955).
Our South Korea catalog contains 1,397 titles in total (931 films).
Audience Engagement
69 audience reviews — more than 77% of South Korea films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 66th percentile among South Korea films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Once Upon a Time in High School, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- nunchaku · 4
- boys' school · 3
- 1970s · 19
- south korea · 97
- seoul · 38
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #452 of 1,397 South Korea films indexed here (68th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.4 points above the South Korea average of 6.9/10.
Among South Korea Romance productions specifically: #40 of 243 (top 16%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | South Korea |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Korean |
| Production Companies | CJ Entertainment, Sidus |
| Runtime | 1h 56m |
| Release Date | January 15, 2004 |
| IMDb | tt0390205 |