End 2019 with films from director 봉준호 Bong Joon-Ho! Parasite and Mother (2009) are family epics rich in social critique about South Korean society, from the director of Okja, Snowpiercer, and The Host.

An intense dramatic work that helped establish Bong Joon-Ho early on as a notable player in contemporary world cinema, Mother (마더) is a fascinating look at the extent to which a mother will battle to protect her son. When a naive young man follows a girl down an alley one evening and that girl later turns up murdered, he is found guilty, much to his mother’s dismay and disbelief. The penal system may be content to let him fall through the cracks, but his mother will stop at nothing to prove his innocence. Mother is a absolute must-see for anyone looking to better understand Bong’s artistic origins, and the ways in which South Korean cinema has changed or remained similar over the past decade.

This film also screens alongside 2019’s hit, Parasite. Description by NWFF Executive Director Vivian Hua.
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“Bold, unpredictable and quietly devastating, Mother is Bong’s first masterpiece.“  – Tom Huddleston, Time Out

“Buoyed by Kim’s powerful performance, Bong crafts a unique story of motherly love and devotion, and turns it into one fantastic thriller.“ – Matthew Lucas, From the Front Row

“The film wears its aesthetic sophistication lightly ( … ) Bong takes the idea of the primacy of perception over reality to its ultimate extreme.“ – Megan Ratner, Film Comment Magazine