A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
- Awards
- 44 wins & 47 nominations
Yun Je-mun
- Je-moon
- (as Jae-moon Yoon)
Jeon Mi-seon
- Mi-sun
- (as Mi-seon Jeon)
Song Sae-byeok
- Sepaktakraw Detective
- (as Sae-beauk Song)
Lee Yeong-seok
- Junk Shop Elder
- (as Yeong-seok Lee)
Hee-ra Mun
- Moon Ah-jeong
- (as Hee-ra Moon)
Chun Woo-hee
- Mi-na
- (as Woo-hee Chun)
Moo-yeong Yeo
- Lawyer Kong Seok-ho
- (as Ou-hyung Yum)
Jeong Yeong-gi
- Kkang-ma
- (as Young-ki Jung)
Go Gyu-pil
- Ddung-ddung
- (as Kyu-phill Ko)
Jo Kyeong-sook
- Mi-na's Mother
- (as Kyung-Sook Cho)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile filming the opening sequence of Mother's dancing, director Joon-ho Bong danced together with Hye-ja Kim to make her feel less nervous.
- Alternate versionsA black and white version (overseen by Joon-ho Bong) premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in 2015. The cut (and duration) remain that same, with colour altered.
Featured review
Masterful portrayal of quiet desperation
As quirky and original as you'd expect from the South Koreans. MOTHER is a lengthy mystery film featuring an unusual storyline about a mother who seeks justice for her unfairly imprisoned son. Along the way, there's all the kind of bizarre supporting characters, atypical incident and genuinely surprising plot twists that you'd expect from a Korean film. This is a movie that keeps you watching throughout despite the slow pacing and lack of action.
The character development is excellent: fully natural, low key throughout, and thoroughly involving. Unsurprisingly, the actors selected to pay the various characters are just right for the part, particularly Hye-ja Kim who we only ever know as 'mother'. She's a unique choice of lead and fits the role perfectly. Won Bin, who made an excellent action hero in THE MAN FROM NOWHERE, is equally excellent here as the slow-witted son and he really gets his teeth into the part.
MOTHER may be a slow burner of a film, but it has a subtle way of truly involving the viewer in the storyline. The tension builds as the climax nears, and then the movie hits you with some moments of quiet devastation that prove a shock to the core. Fans expecting another pulse-pounding thriller like THE YELLOW SEA may be disappointed, but those with open minds will have a ball.
The character development is excellent: fully natural, low key throughout, and thoroughly involving. Unsurprisingly, the actors selected to pay the various characters are just right for the part, particularly Hye-ja Kim who we only ever know as 'mother'. She's a unique choice of lead and fits the role perfectly. Won Bin, who made an excellent action hero in THE MAN FROM NOWHERE, is equally excellent here as the slow-witted son and he really gets his teeth into the part.
MOTHER may be a slow burner of a film, but it has a subtle way of truly involving the viewer in the storyline. The tension builds as the climax nears, and then the movie hits you with some moments of quiet devastation that prove a shock to the core. Fans expecting another pulse-pounding thriller like THE YELLOW SEA may be disappointed, but those with open minds will have a ball.
Helpful•00
- Leofwine_draca
- Sep 17, 2012
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $551,509
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $35,858
- Mar 14, 2010
- Gross worldwide
- $17,271,439
- Runtime2 hours 9 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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![Won Bin and Kim Hye-ja in Mother (2009)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQzMTg0NDA1M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODUzMTE0MjE@._V1_QL75_UY133_CR2,0,90,133_.jpg)