2 / 2 directing & technical aspect 1 / 1 story 1 / 1 act I 1 / 1 act II 1 / 1 act III 1 / 1 acting 1 / 1 writing 0 / 1 originality 0 / 1 stays with you 0 / 1 misc 8 out of 10

Mother is a mesmerising and thought-provoking thriller that showcases Bong’s ability to blend suspense, emotion and social commentary seamlessly. The movie’s haunting atmosphere, gripping performances and powerful storytelling makes it a must watch for those who appreciate meticulously crafted cinema.

Much like _Okja_, this probably has the hardest time balancing tone out of Bong Joon Ho’s entire filmography. I thought the first half was occasionally pretty messy, as it’s more overtly silly compared to something like _Parasite_ or _Memories of Murder_, which doesn’t entirely work with the dark, tense premise that’s being set-up. I also didn’t love how it plays the disability of one of the main characters for laughs, which felt slightly too unnecessarily cruel for my taste. Still, I was immediately hooked by the story that’s being told, it starts like a classic noir but then starts to subvert expectations as it goes along. Tonally it becomes more focussed, it adds more complex layers to the characters and the story takes a few interesting dramatic turns. Unfortunately, I pretty much saw everything coming in advance (there’s just something about the set-ups here that makes the turns a little too obvious), but that doesn’t mean that it stops being interesting. The grim emotion and fantastic acting by Kim Hye-ja always provide a strong backbone to what’s going on, as well as Bong Joon Ho’s firm hand behind the camera. There are a lot of memorable scenes here that are simply based on smart decisions with the writing and directing (e.g. the autopsy of the murder is hilarious, the tense scene where the mother watches the couple having sex and needs to escape from the house). The editing and cinematography are very solid, on the other hand the scoring choices aren’t great (some confusing use of horn arrangements, generic strings). Overall, it’s not exactly my favourite project from this excellent director, but still a worthwhile watch. 6.5/10