Mother
Directed by Bong Joon Ho
- crime
- drama
- mystery
The story
A mother lives quietly with her son. One day, a girl is brutally killed, and the boy is charged with the murder. Now, it's his mother's mission to prove him innocent.
What it’s like
Dense, humid greens and ochres of a small Korean town, with hazy overcast daylight, mud-brown rain, and sodden hills that seem to press in on every frame. Bong Joon Ho frames with a painter's eye: slow tracking shots through narrow alleys, unsettling close-ups of faces half in shadow, and a few long, held wides where a single figure stands small against the landscape. The score is sparse and off-kilter, with quiet, plucked strings and a lilting folk melody that turns faintly sinister when it returns. Its vibe is anxious, darkly comic melancholy, the sort of unease that sits between a sigh and a shiver. It suits a rainy evening alone with the lights low and attention to spare. The pacing is deliberate, letting awkward silences and small domestic rituals stretch before a sudden lurch into panic or violence. The story follows a devoted mother and her adult son, whose bond becomes fierce and morally tangled as she takes matters into her own hands. Violence is brief but brutal, with a murder shown early and a few sharp, bloody moments, and some drunkenness, sexual innuendo and cruelty; nothing is gratuitous, but it lands hard. This is for viewers who enjoy slow-burn, character-driven thrillers with a sly sense of humour and a bleak undertow.
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