Mother

"She'll stop at nothing."

2009 2h 9m KO

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🔥

96%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 1,763🍅96%Rotten Tomatoes●79Metacritic★7.7IMDB · 79,751

CrimeDramaMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“She'll stop at nothing.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Kim Hye-ja
Mother
Won Bin
Yoon Do-joon
Jin Goo
Jin-tae
Yoon Je-moon
Je-moon
Jeon Mi-seon
Mi-seon
Song Sae-byuk
Sepak Takraw Detective
Lee Young-suk
Elder at Junk Shop
Moon Hee-ra
Moon Ah-jeong

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bong Joon Ho
Writers: Bong Joon Ho, Park Eun-kyo
Languages: Korean
Countries: South Korea

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 17 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bong Joon Ho, shot by Hong Kyung-pyo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lee Byung-woo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Moon Se-kyoung shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin and Jin Goo carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "She'll stop at nothing.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1216496 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bong Joon Ho directs. Hong Kyung-pyo behind the camera. Lee Byung-woo scores. Moon Se-kyoung cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.
2Released 17 years ago.
3Directed by Bong Joon Ho, shot by Hong Kyung-pyo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Lee Byung-woo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Moon Se-kyoung shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin and Jin Goo carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "She'll stop at nothing.".
8IMDB entry: tt1216496 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 16 themes, including "small town", "mother", "rice", "golf".
10Released under 18 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Hong Kyung-pyo
Original score: Lee Byung-woo
Editing: Moon Se-kyoung
Production design: Ryu Seong-hie
Costume design: Choi Se-yeon
Makeup / hair: Lee Hee-eun
VFX supervisor: Lee Jeon-hyoung
Sound: Gang Hye-yeong
Runtime: 129 min · 2h 9m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,000,000
Box office: $17,112,713
Return: 342% of budget
Original language: KO
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Mother (2009)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 79/100
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 79,751 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

45 wins & 49 nominations total

Blue Dragon Film Award for Best film
Asian Film Award for Best Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Bong Joon Ho

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-07-17
★ 7/10
This is a corking film from Bong Joon Ho with an equally super performance from Hye-ja Kim as the "Mother". Her son "Soon Do-joon" (Won Bin) is accused of murdering a young girl. The police seem convinced of his guilt and her lawyer suggests he be detained in an hospital - rather than a prison - so she sets out, determinedly, to establish his innocence. As she takes to her task, she soon becomes obsessed, her own mental stability begins to wobble and we are drawn into a dark, almost sombre, crime thriller. It has plenty of twists and turns, and by the end (which comes pretty much from the left field) I almost felt exhausted. This is as engrossing a film as I've seen in many years, with an excellent (almost Andalusian in style) accompanying score - well worth watching. (Maybe less so if you are not so keen on acupuncture needles!)

Production companies