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Mother (2009)
"Madeo" (original title)

R  |   |  Crime, Drama, Mystery  |  28 May 2009 (South Korea)
7.8
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Ratings: 7.8/10 from 24,454 users   Metascore: 79/100
Reviews: 82 user | 201 critic | 31 from Metacritic.com

A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.

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(story), (screenplay), 1 more credit »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
Ku Jin ...
Jin-tae (as Goo Jin)
Je-mun Yun ...
Je-moon (as Jae-moon Yoon)
...
Mi-sun
...
Sepaktakraw Detective (as Sae-beauk Song)
Byoung-Soon Kim ...
Group Leader
Woo-hee Chun ...
Mi-na
Gin-goo Kim ...
Ah-jeong's Grandma
Moo-yeong Yeo ...
Lawyer Kong Seok-ho (as Ou-hyung Yum)
Young-Suck Lee ...
Elder at Junk Shop
Hee-ra Mun ...
Moon Ah-jeong (as Hee-ra Moon)
Mi-do Lee ...
Hyung-teo
Young-ki Jung ...
Kkang-ma
Gyu-pil Go ...
Ddung-ddung (as Kyu-phill Ko)
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Storyline

A mother lives quietly with her twenty-eight-year-old son, Do-joon, providing herbs and acupuncture to neighbors. One day, a girl is brutally murdered, and Do-joon is charged with the killing. Now, it's his mother's call whether to prove him innocent or to leave him imprisoned. Written by Pusan International Film Festival

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

She'll stop at nothing.


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexual content, violence and drug use | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

28 May 2009 (South Korea)  »

Also Known As:

Mother  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$35,858 (USA) (5 March 2010)

Gross:

$547,292 (USA) (11 June 2010)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

,  »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

South Korea's official submission to 82nd Academy Award's Foreign Language in 2010. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Stockholms 20th International Film Festival (2009) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
One of the darkest, most evil characters in movie history, lovingly portrayed
29 March 2010 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

Film loves evil, the vile, the inept, the perverse and the innocent defamed. All of this is in the brilliant film "Mother". One of the greatest faults of Hollywood is the complete omission of this type of character (I can't reveal who), and this amazingly scripted piece of horrific, monstrous human behavior takes tremendous advantage of the fact that WESTERN film makers lack the guts to do this story. It helps American viewers that both the setting (a small town in Korea) and the actors (complete unknowns to this viewer) all create a clean slate for us to experience this level of depravity and pure and utter darkness of the human spirit. I just saw Chloe, and believe it or not, the films are similar. Both use a strange and mundane setting. Both films dig deep into the hollow lives of these characters, bereft of love and even the most elemental human contact and affection in their lives. And both films point out the sheer perversity of the modern human spirit searching for this love we all dare to desire. Nothing is missing from this absolutely brilliant tour de force of human rendering that will leave you in disgust and awe. After all, what are movies for? If you don't want to feel the fear and trembling of this kind of human tragedy, we should all just sit home. This movie is a masterpiece.


39 of 51 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Ok, so who did it? lilostitch321
Plot hole czenczenczen
10/10..the best movie in years!! Why is this not in IMDB top 250 list?? praveenksingh
Actually the mother was the major cause of the girl's murder !!! tameem_10
Acupuncture, beginning and ending... maxwellmurder19
The cry in front of the new suspect in the jail. What does it mean? kimkegaard
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