MOTHER aka MADEO

Year: 2009
USA: Magnolia Pictures
UK: Optimum Releasing
Cast: Kim Hye-Ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yoon Jae-Moon, Jun Mi-sun, Lee Young-Suck, Song Sae-Beauk, Na Mun-hee, Chun Woo-hee
Directors: Bong Joon-Ho
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean (English subtitles)
USA: 128 mins
UK: 129 mins
USA Rated: R for language, some sexual content, violence and drug use
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language, sex and violence
USA Release Date: 12 March 2010 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 20 August 2010 (Limited Release)

US Distributor
Official UK website

Synopsis

"Don't trust anyone. You go out and find the real killer..."

Hye-ja is a single mother to 27 year-old Do-joon. Her son is her focus in life. Though an adult, Do-joon is naïve and dependent on his mother, and sometimes behaves in ways that are stupid or simply dangerous. He is a constant source of anxiety for everyone.

One day a young girl is found dead in an abandoned building and Do-joon is accused of her murder. When an apathetic police force close Do-joon's case too quickly and through the actions of an inefficient lawyer, his mother takes it upon herself to try and clear her son's name - to act as Mother in its purest form. Summoning all her maternal instincts and trusting no one, she sets out to find a killer and prove her son's innocence.

The director of contemporary Korean classics MEMORIES OF MURDER and THE HOST returns with a wickedly twisted tale about what can happen when a mother's love for her son goes too far.

Part detective story, part melodrama but still a totally original construct with its own shape and style. This darkly comic film from South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho has quickly acquired cult status. Maternal love comes into its own as a mother turns super-sleuth to seek justice for her son.