A mother lives quietly with her twenty-eight-year-old son, Do-joon, providing herbs and acupuncture to neighbors. One day, a girl is brutally murdered, and Do-joon is charged with the killing. Now, it’s his mother’s call whether to prove him innocent or to leave him imprisoned.
Asian Horror Movie Reviews Blog: Mother
No, I’m not talking about Mother!, the 2017 American arthouse film starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. I’m talking about the 2009 South Korean movie directed by Bong Joon Ho, known for Memoirs of Murder, The Host, Snowpiercer, and the most recent Oscar-winning film, Parasite.
When her mentally challenged son, Yoon Do-joon, is arrested for the murder of a young girl, his Mother (Hye-ja Kim) is hellbent on proving her son’s innocence and finding the real murderer. Mother goes to extreme lengths to do so, and in doing so, things unravel to uncover a web of lies and truths alike.
South Korean cinema has mastered the art of genre-bending. In Mother, we get a healthy blend of crime, thriller, and good doses of drama with some laughs to help ease the tension. We even get what I consider a memorable “dance number” from Mother. Trust me, it comes out of nowhere and is more of an aside that had nothing to do with the story. Yoon Do-joon’s mother is overprotective of her son as one should expect. Still, her love shows no limits despite the ramifications.
Mother is a slow-burn thriller, but, like many South Korean films, it pays off significantly in the end. The reward is well worth the price of admission, that being your time and patience. Mother is riddled with excellent storytelling and direction that packs a punch and will leave your mouth agape at its conclusion. This film is a fantastic entry to Yoon Do-joon’s filmography. It exemplifies why he is an Academy-award-winning filmmaker.
