Story
Bring the Soul: The Movie takes viewers on a world tour through Asia, North America and Europe with the internationally acclaimed Korean pop group, BTS. Audiences get a behind-the-scenes look at life on tour with group members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook.
The documentary explores the highs and lows of performing, the individuality of group members, and the inspiration that the group brings to millions with its positive messages about love, belonging and being true to yourself. The movie weaves footage from each tour destination into the story, and it’s interesting to see how varied the group’s audience is and how many people have been influenced and moved by its music. It’s also refreshing and praiseworthy to see BTS’s dedication to fans and the group’s thoughtfulness towards support crew and others.
Bring the Soul shows how hard this superstar group works for success, as well as how success comes at a cost.
Themes
Sacrifices group members make for success; the nature and cost of fame; relationships; the power of music; the importance of loving yourself
Violence
Bring the Soul: The Movie has no violence, although during a rehearsal Jung Kook gets a very deep cut on his foot. Subsequently, there are a few medical scenes with glimpses of the injury.
Sexual references
There are no sexual references in Bring the Soul: The Movie.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Bring the Soul: The Movie shows alcohol use. Group members frequently drink alcohol. They consume lots of wine and one group member mentions using alcohol to forget problems.
Nudity and sexual activity
There’s no nudity or sexual activity in Bring the Soul: The Movie. Occasionally, dance sequences have pelvic thrusting.
Product placement
In Bring the Soul: The Movie, group members wear a lot of designer clothing and shop in trendy boutiques. There’s a lot of emphasis on personal appearance and looking good. Also, group members talk about a large increase in BTS merchandise sales.
Coarse language
There’s no coarse language in Bring the Soul: The Movie.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Bring the Soul: The Movie is a behind-the-scenes style documentary about what life is like on tour for BTS. The movie will appeal to female audiences and fans of K-Pop.
The main messages from this movie are to always do your best, to love yourself and to look with grateful eyes at the world around you.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include gratitude, respect, consideration, love, humility and teamwork.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like:
- the physical toll that overwork can take on your body
- the many emotional and physical sacrifices that individuals might need to make for group success and the effect this can have on extended families
- excessive consumerism, brand-based consumption and the messages these send to young people about how they should look and live
- the use of alcohol to deal with problems and disappointments – one group member mentions going out to ‘forget their problems over drinks’.