K-Pop Power: A Review of BTS ARMY: Forever We Are Young

Turn on your ARMY BOMB (light stick) and wave it high in the sky for Grace Lee and Patty Ahn’s documentary BTS ARMY: Forever We Are Young, dedicated to the force of the worldwide group of BTS fans more powerfully known as ARMY*. Spanning the globe, Forever We Are Young introduces viewers to the heartfelt stories of a select few ARMY who share their passion and undying support for BTS. Through intimate interviews, news footage, YouTube videos created by BTS and ARMY, and swoon worthy montages of the group, viewers are privy to a history of Bangtan Sonyeondan, their music, and ARMY itself.

As ARMY each share their bias (favorite) viewers are introduced to the members of BTS: RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V, & Jungkook aka Golden Maknae, the youngest member who is good at everything. A purple heart surrounds the member’s face as they are introduced almost as a spell cast to make you fall in love with them alongside ARMY; some of whom have been fans of the band from the very beginning.

We are first introduced to Kaitlyn, ARMY since high school, who attended BTS’ first concert in the U.S. in 2014. Not only does she share her memorabilia collection, but also the connections she has made with ARMY around the world. Viewers also meet Ele and Len, Mexican ARMY, who share their love for BTS through their dance covers. The band helped them find their passion for choreography and for their own gender identities. Chaehyun, ARMY based in South Korea, owns a dance studio dedicated to solely teaching BTS choreography. In one interview she shares, “[...] after becoming an ARMY I felt very special to myself.” These stories are so personal and heartfelt they’ll make you cry. BTS has transformed the lives of ARMY.

Courtesy of Tremolo Productions

What Forever We Are Young does well is get to the root of the positive power a fandom can have when they come together. Not only on a specific personal level, but in a way that affects change in the world. ARMY is strong. An example in the film is in 2017 when BTS was nominated for Billboard Music Awards' Social Artist Award. Nominated alongside six-time winner Justin Bieber, ARMY rallied and created an organized online voting system where different regions of the world would take up the helm and vote while the others slept. ARMY wracked up 313 million votes leaving Beliebers in the dust who garnered 23.1 million. BTS won the award the following four years.

Along with the great feats they accomplished for the band itself, the film also covers how ARMY matched a $1 million dollar donation BTS made to Black Lives Matter in 2020 with the #MatchAMillion social media campaign. Ahn shared, “That fandom can be a force of social transformation – in a good way. That identity – how we understand ourselves culturally and in relation to each other is radically changing in a now globally interconnected world. That we can accomplish anything when we’re united around a shared set of values.” ARMY goes above and beyond to support the group and the beliefs the members of BTS hold dear. “BTS’ historic achievements were not possible without ARMY and ARMY’s power would not be possible without BTS,” Lee shared. 

Courtesy of Tremolo Productions

The paramount lesson is the connection ARMY has to the band members, their music, and each other. Lei, ARMY in Mexico City, says, “What BTS does is unite us. No matter what country or city you’re in there’s always an ARMY that you can go out and be friends with.” Now that’s dynamite (sorry - had to). Audiences will be fully invested in the underdog story chanting for the success of both BTS and ARMY.  These profiles of ARMY, young and old, of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexual and gender identities truly illustrate the magic that a group can have to bring us together. Forever We Are Young is a testament to the notion that no matter our background we have permission to express ourselves through music, fandom, and of course… dance. MIC Drop!

BTS ARMY: Forever We Are Young will be in cinemas worldwide limited screening from July 30th.

*ARMY means Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth and is used both as a singular and collective noun.