Dream is a Korean sports comedy film that follows a soccer team made up of homeless people who are set to take part in the homeless World Cup. It is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Hong-dae Yoon, a professional soccer player in Korea, is badgered by the press as her mother is being chased by the police.
Frustrated by this, he pokes one of the journalists in the eyes and causes a media flurry against him, even spawning viral videos.
His PR agency decides to get him into the entertainment business to clean his image. So-min Lee, a documentary director famed for evoking sadness, is hired to shoot.
The plan is for him to coach the homeless football world cup team of Korea for positive PR. While Hong-dae is apprehensive about the plan, So-min convinces him that this can heal both their reputations.
The team is built with a bunch of homeless players with sad backstories. Hwan-dong Kim, a former CEO, lost everything in the 1997 IMF crisis.
Beom-su Son loves a woman with a mental disability. Hyo-bong Jeon has a daughter in elementary school. His ex-wife married an Australian, which means his daughter will be moving soon as well.
Moon-su Jeon claims to be a former gangster and is only acting as a homeless because he is on the run from the police.
Hong-dae meets his mother in secret. She had blown all of his money into a business and has been on the run for scamming.
Beom-su tells them he doesn’t want to be part of the team. He was struggling in life before he met Jin-ju, who took care of him. But when he realises she loves soccer, he rejoins.
They also recruit Kim In-sun, a kid who sells magazines and actually has a talent for the game. He has been looking for his childhood friend who went missing after an incident.
For practice, the homeless play against a team of kids. They are losing at first but manage to mount a comeback.
When a few youngsters are harassing Jim-ju, Hong-dae steps in and beats them up, causing another media outrage.
To help him, So-min makes a video that shows Jin-ju being harassed and that Hong-dae has been graciously helping the homeless team.
Hong-dae’s agency switches him to a reality show in a Jungle instead of the world cup and he accepts. He tells the entire team.
However, after a conversation with his mother, he changes his mind and decides to accompany the team to the World Cup.
Dream ending explained in detail:
Does the homeless team perform well?
Immediately after arriving, the Korean team realises that the quality of opposition at the tournament is far higher than they had initially expected.
So-min wants the team to win at least once. They use the loophole of including at least two Brazilian players.
The Korean team dominates the next game, with the two Brazilians scoring all the goals. However, Hong-dae isn’t happy about it.
What is the fate of the team at the world cup?
After a discussion with his team, he motivates the players to play for the memories. They remove the Brazilian players from the team.
They are losing badly and contemplate including the Brazilian players again. But all the homeless state their reasons for wanting to play well.
Motivated again, they take to the field and give their best. Looking at the effort they are putting in, even the crowd turns to their side.
After multiple attempts, they finally score a goal and the crowd goes into a frenzy. They lose all their next games as well.
But the Korean team has become a fan favourite. They win the 2010 newcomer award as well, even after losing 10 and winning just 1.
Where is everyone after the world cup?
The documentary becomes a hit and So-min receives praise. Hwan-dong’s wife meets him again and he holds his daughter for the first time.
Hyo-bong and his daughter part ways, but have nothing but love for each other. Kim In-sun meets a woman who looks similar to his childhood friend. Jin-ju finally shows affection towards Moon-su because he is a soccer player now.
Hong-dae has resumed his career as a professional player. The entire homeless team and So-min root for him from the crowd. The film ends with him about to score a header.
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