Ronit J

Mother (2009) Synopsis:

She’ll stop at nothing.

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.

Mother (2009) Review:

I’ve been a huge fan of Bong Joon Ho ever since I watched Memories of Murder (2006). From Parasite to Mickey 17, I’ve loved everything I’ve seen from him, including his short films. Knowing this was one of his favourite movies that he’s directed, I had very high expectations going in. And thankfully, the film very much lived up to them.

The film follows an unnamed Mother (Kim Hye-ja) who sells Chinese medicinal herbs and offers acupuncture services without a license. Her son, Do-joon (Won Bin), is intellectually disabled and spends his days loitering around with the good-for-nothing Jin-tae (Jin Goo). After a night of drinking, Do-joon becomes the primary suspect for the murder of Moon Ah-jung (Moon Hee-ra), a high school girl who was killed with a blunt object struck to her head, then propped on a rooftop for the town to see.

What follows is Mother’s quest to prove her son’s innocence by investigating Ah-jung’s life and finding the real killer.

I’ll start off by saying that ‘slow’ here is subjective. While the film might feel slow and arguably at times, it’s undeniably very captivating. The main reason for that is the characters. They feel like real people. Mother’s projected timidity hides underneath it a vicious tenacity. Do-joon’s thoughtless loitering is more self-destructive than it is destructive. The primary conflict itself is one of obviousness, misunderstanding and lack of evidence, a not-very subtle nod to Bong Joon Ho’s earlier film, Memories of Murder. Hell, I won’t be surprised if one element from that film was what inspired this one.

A Slow-Burning Emotional Thriller

The film begins by introducing you to this mother-son duo, immersing you in their poverty and powerless existence in a society that seems to be leaving them behind. Then, it pits them against impossible odds, compelling you to root for Mother as she strives to fight off this perceived injustice. After all, the cops charged Do-joon a hefty fine for breaking an expensive car’s side mirror that Jin-tae had broken. That has to be foreshadowing for the cops wrongly arresting Do-joon for the girl’s murder, right? Right?

From the insurmountable injustice to Mother’s unwavering drive to acquit her son, the film slowly takes you around this small town, introducing you to various characters, each of whom is battling life in their own ways. Within this society of human problems, Mother’s battle against society’s apathy towards her son seems the most cruel. Especially given how his disability becomes a major disadvantage in his conviction. Every reveal, every character study, every single step that Mother takes, all lead to a fascinating journey of resilience and personal stakes that values outcome over veracity. And when the curtain is lifted for the final reveal, you can’t help but ponder over the sinister, unforgiving nature of life.

A thriller that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat from start to end, and leave you with your jaw hanging in a way that’s very similar in spirit to the ending of Oldboy. Mother is an absolute must-watch if you ask me, especially if you love Bong Joon Ho.

You Won’t See It Coming

The film’s opening scene is just Mother dancing in an open field. We then see her trying to sell Chinese medicinal herbs, only for her to abandon the sale because her son almost got hit by a car. We then follow Do-joon and Jin-tae as they head to confront the driver, only for them to end up in the police station. A harmless drunken night for Do-joon ends with him getting arrested under suspicion of murdering a girl. The film’s relentless twists never fail to hook you, and always end up leaving you wanting more.

As fascinating as the plot and narrative are, the characters’ conviction makes the film a lot more compelling than it is. Mother never gives up, even when the victim’s family practically kick her out of the victim’s funeral. From seedy lawyers to Jin-tae’s supposed involvement in the killing, every plot point pushes us further away from the truth than it does closer to it. However, the truth was in front of us the whole time.

What I found most fascinating about this film was the meaninglessness of it all. SPOILER: Mother’s journey across the film to prove her son’s innocence ends with her proving the very opposite. Every bit of information she picks up along the way hints at a different perpetrator, only to later confirm her son’s guilt. Even when the police arrest and convict an innocent man, Mother’s clues actually prove his innocence. She keeps mum because she wants to protect her son.

From plot to progression to characters, Mother is a fascinating study of human resilience and humanity’s strained relationship with truth and accountability. After all, for Mother, law and justice mean nothing when compared to her son’s safety and freedom. That is a truth that most of us live, but only a few will have the courage to admit.

Mother (2009) Ending Explained (SPOILERS)

Do-joon tells Mother that he saw an elderly man on the night of Ah-jung’s murder. After going through the pictures on Ah-jung’s phone, Do-joon identifies the man, and Mother recognises him as the junk collector. She goes to his house under the pretext of offering charity medical services. There, he reveals to her that he witnessed Do-joon kill Ah-jung, and the memory has troubled him since. Apparently, Ah-jung called Do-joon a ‘retard’, which angered him, prompting him to throw a large rock at her. The rock hit her head, killing her. Do-joon then propped her on the rooftop. Finally, the junk collector breaks and says he should confess to what he saw to the police. Mother, wanting to protect her son, attacks the junk collector and bludgeons him to death. She then burns his house down.

Later, the police inform Mother that they have caught the real killer, Jong-pal. He argues that the blood is from Ah-jung’s nosebleed during sex, which Mother knows is true. She visits him, only to realise that his intellectual disability is worse than Do-joon’s. She breaks down crying because he doesn’t have a mother who will fight for him as she did for Do-joon. He will end up in jail for a crime he did not commit.

Later, a free Do-joon theorises that maybe the killer propped Ah-jung up so prominently for the whole town to see because he wanted someone to help her. In the end, Mother goes on a ‘Thank You, Parents’ tour. Just before she boards the bus, Do-joon gives her her acupuncture kit that he found in the ruins of the junk collector’s burnt-down house. On the bus, while all the other mothers are dancing, Mother uses her acupuncture kit to prick herself in the thigh, which causes her to blank out on the memory of the whole ordeal. She then happily dances with the rest of the parents.

Mother’s ending is similar to Oldboy, disturbing in its human honesty. Unable to live with the truth, Mother chooses delusion and amnesia, all to protect herself and her son.

Is Mother (2009) worth watching?

Yes. Mother is consistently ranked among Bong Joon Ho’s best works, and I agree with that. It’s an absolutely mind-blowing piece of cinema.

I originally rated it 4/5 because there were some dull moments in the film. However, upon reflection, I’ve decided to increase that to a 4.5/5.

In Conclusion:

Mother (2009) by Bong Joon Ho is an absolutely mind-blowing psychological thriller that’ll keep you guessing till the very last scene.

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