‘The Match’ (2025) Netflix Movie Review - A Gripping Duel Between Legends on the Go Board

The Match is a slow-burning, emotionally layered sports drama that explores not only the ancient game of Go, but the volatile, often heartbreaking relationship between teacher and student, legend and prodigy.

Unlike chess or shogi, where each piece comes with a fixed identity, every stone in Go is the same—small, black or white, laid one at a time on a sprawling 19×19 grid. To an outsider, it might seem like a monotonous ritual of placing stones. But for those who understand, Go is more than a game—it’s a universe. And The Match captures this sense of vastness and mystery with unwavering dedication.

Set against the backdrop of South Korea’s Go craze in the 1990s, the film begins in the aftermath of a defining moment in Korean Go history: the 1989 world championship match where Cho Hun Hyun, the revered 9-dan master (played with controlled intensity by Lee Byung Hun), defeats China’s Nie Weiping. Still basking in victory, Cho is introduced to a young Go prodigy named Lee Chang Ho—first portrayed by the talented child actor Kim Kang Hoon, and later by Yoo Ah In in a brooding, career-best performance.

Lee is a natural, precise, intuitive, and unshakably calm. But with talent comes ego, and Cho, a titan of discipline, knows that winning isn't everything. He trains the boy not just to calculate better lines, but to respect the sanctity of the game. As the years pass, student and master grow together—but so does the tension between them. Lee begins to surpass other pros, eventually rising high enough to face the one opponent he knows best: his teacher.

What sets The Match apart from other mentor-protégé dramas is its refusal to romanticize the passing of the torch. This isn’t a story of aging gracefully or legacy-building. It’s about clashing ideals, bruised pride, and the pain of being surpassed by someone you helped shape. The final showdown between Cho and Lee isn’t just a battle of skill—it’s a deeply personal reckoning and one of the most quietly devastating moments in recent Korean cinema.

Director Kim Hyeong Ju navigates this complex emotional terrain with finesse. At a press conference following the film’s preview, Kim acknowledged the liberties taken in adapting real events. “Cho Hun Hyun wasn’t actually this strict,” he noted, “and Lee Chang Ho described himself as cheerful, so we leaned into that during his early years.” The climactic match depicted as their first was, in reality, not, but the dramatization serves a narrative purpose, distilling years of tension into one unforgettable confrontation.

The performances are uniformly strong. Lee Byung Hun plays Cho not as a distant master, but as a man torn between pride and love, discipline and vulnerability. Yoo Ah In’s Lee Chang Ho is more enigmatic, channeling the silent focus of a true Go genius. Supporting actors Cho Woo Jin, Moon Jung Hee, Go Chang Seok, and Hyun Bong Sik round out the cast with grounded, lived-in performances that enhance the authenticity of the story.

Ultimately, The Match is more than a sports movie. It’s a meditation on ambition, mentorship, and the emotional costs of greatness. For those who know the game, the film is filled with subtle nods to famous matches and styles of play. For those who don’t, it still resonates deeply—because at its core, it’s about two people whose lives are defined by the same board, the same stones, and the same dream.

Final Score- [8/10]
Reviewed by - Neerja Choudhuri
Follow @NeerjaCH on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times