Overview
A mother's love drives her to uncover the truth behind a brutal crime that threatens to destroy her family.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- tense
- eerie
- darkly comic
- serious movie night
- crime thriller night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an inventive, unsettling blend of crime mystery, family drama, horror, and comedy, anchored by Kim Hye-ja’s performance and Bong Joon-ho’s tonal control.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The mother relentlessly pursues Do-joon’s exoneration and increasingly compromises moral boundaries in the process.
Do-joon’s disability and social marginalization make him an easy suspect for the girl’s murder.
The mother investigates the murder herself after police and legal authorities quickly settle on her son’s guilt.
The small-town landscape, domestic interiors, and isolated crime scenes are rendered with unsettling visual precision.
Films like Mother, and why
Memories of Murder
Shares a morally complex criminal investigation, social inequality, dark humor, and volatile tonal shifts.
Parasite
Combines family devotion, class anxiety, suspense, and unsettling reversals within a Korean crime drama.
The Blackcoat's Daughter
Features an obsessive investigation, ambiguous morality, eerie atmosphere, and a mother-centered emotional core.
Prisoners
Shares a psychologically intense search for truth, institutional failure, and a bleakly suspenseful mystery structure.
Movie Details
- Director
- Bong Joon Ho
- Release Date
- 2009-05-28
- Runtime
- 129 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (1754)
Cast
- Kim Hye-ja
- Won Bin
- Jin Goo
- Yoon Je-moon
- Jeon Mi-seon
- Song Sae-byuk
- Lee Young-suk
- Moon Hee-ra
- Chun Woo-hee
- Kim Byeong-soon
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel, Monsters and Nightmares Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Mother about?
- A fiercely devoted mother investigates her disabled son’s murder accusation, uncovering a web of prejudice, exploitation, and dangerous loyalty.
- What is Mother like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Mother as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Mother violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Mother as brutal.
- What did critics think of Mother?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an inventive, unsettling blend of crime mystery, family drama, horror, and comedy, anchored by Kim Hye-ja’s performance and Bong Joon-ho’s tonal control.
- Which films are like Mother?
- Films with a similar feel include Memories of Murder, Parasite, The Blackcoat's Daughter, and Prisoners.
- How long is Mother?
- Mother runs 129 minutes.
- Where can I watch Mother?
- In United States, Mother streams on Philo, Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel, Monsters and Nightmares Amazon Channel.
