James Gunn Recommends This Underrated Neo-Noir Thriller From an Oscar-Winning Director
James Gunn knows a thing or two about filmmaking. So, when the director comes to the table with a suggestion, we are all ears. During the lockdown phase of the COVID pandemic, Gunn took to Facebook to share a bevy of recommendations for sheltering in place. Among his picks is Bong Joon-ho’s 2009 neo-noir thriller Mother.
Gunn’s recommendation is captioned with a quote that doesn’t give too much away but is likely to inspire a certain curiosity in the uninducted: “Long before Parastite, and after The Host, Bong Joon-ho made this film about a mother’s undying – some would say almost psychotic – love for her son. My favorite of his films.”
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The film stars Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yun Je-mun, and Jeon Mi-seon. Joon-ho co-wrote the screenplay for the flick with Eun-kyo Park.
The setup is as follows: A widow (Kim Hye-ja) resides with her mentally challenged son (Won-bin) in a small South Korean town, where she scrapes out a living selling medicinal herbs. Mother and son are plunged into a nightmare when the body of a murdered young girl is discovered. Circumstantial evidence indicates the son’s involvement, and he becomes the prime suspect during the sloppy police investigation. Betrayed by the legal system, the mother takes the law into her own hands to clear her son’s name.
If the Slither director’s recommendation has you curious to check the film out, you can currently find Mother available as a digital rental and on physical media.
That’s all we have for you for the time being. Stay tuned to the site for more recommendations from cinematic luminaries as we uncover them. And be sure to follow @DreadCentral on Twitter so you never miss an update.
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