Mother

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Mother

R

2010

2h 8m

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

122 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

A widow (Kim Hye-ja) resides with her mentally challenged son (Won-bin) in a small South Korean town, where she scrapes out a living selling medicinal herbs. Mother and son are plunged into a nightmare when the body of a murdered young girl is discovered. Circumstantial evidence indicates the son's involvement, and he becomes the prime suspect during the sloppy police investigation. Betrayed by the legal system, the mother takes the law into her own hands to clear her son's name.

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Critics Consensus

As fleshy as it is funny, Bong Joon-Ho's Mother straddles family drama, horror and comedy with a deft grasp of tone and plenty of eerie visuals.

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Megan Ratner

Film Comment Magazine

01/02/2016

The film wears its aesthetic sophistication lightly ( ... ) Bong takes the idea of the primacy of perception over reality to its ultimate extreme.

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

12/30/2010

Bong's opening and climactic scenes, in which the old woman bops around to a dance tune amid a vast field of yellow grass, are typical of the movie's cockeyed poetry.

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Jonathan Crocker

Little White Lies

08/20/2010

4/5

Another quality Bong hit.

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

May 3

8

By blending elements of thriller, drama, and dark comedy, Bong Joon-ho crafts a narrative that is as emotionally engaging as it is intellectually provocative.

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Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

Nov 13

3/5

Much like writer and director Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning Parasite, this film is an unflinching satire of South Korea's failing institutions.

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Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

03/05/2025

3.5/4

. . . it’s as if a dark tragedy has been cast with lovable clowns.

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revolver.0 8

@Revolver08 Mar 26

codependency with down syndrome: the movie

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Steve C

@RT19610513 Nov 15

Accidental murders...

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Sergio A

@Sergio83 Aug 30

Another Bong Joon-ho masterpiece. This time, without overwhelming the story with excessive character backstories or complex subplots, it feels simpler on the surface, yet it’s full of hidden layers. As always, Bong weaves in brilliantly subtle social commentary, exploring love, intimacy, justice, and truth. The lead actress delivers an immense, powerful, and deeply moving performance.

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Greg K

@GregZ Aug 4

Seldomly a piece of art grabs your heart and turns it 180° and back.

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Gonzalo T

@RT47872935 Jul 18

The innocence of love takes a dark, twisted turn when it comes from a mother, and this film explores that theme with almost unsettling intensity, revealing with stark clarity how easily appearances can conceal the unimaginable.

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Rehan T

@RT81460504 Jul 17

Both the son and the mother were r***ards. Killed an innocent man. What kind of a person does that? Justice should be served...

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Bong Joon Ho

Director

Kim Hye-ja

Mother

Won-bin

Yoon Do-joon

Jin Goo

Jin-tae

Yoon Je-moon

Je-moon

Jeon Mi-sun

Mi-sun

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26%

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Synopsis

A widow (Kim Hye-ja) resides with her mentally challenged son (Won-bin) in a small South Korean town, where she scrapes out a living selling medicinal herbs. Mother and son are plunged into a nightmare when the body of a murdered young girl is discovered. Circumstantial evidence indicates the son's involvement, and he becomes the prime suspect during the sloppy police investigation. Betrayed by the legal system, the mother takes the law into her own hands to clear her son's name.

Director: Bong Joon Ho
Producer: Choi Jae-won
Screenwriter: Bong Joon Ho, Park Eungyo, Park Wongyu
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: CJ Entertainment
Rating: R (Language|Drug Use|Some Sexual Content|Violence)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Korean
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 12, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 21, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $547.3K
Runtime: 2h 8m