60
Bong's stylistic embellishment of the simple tale of a mother who will do anything to protect her son is breathtaking.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
100
Its combination of dazzling cinematic craft, psychological insight and black humor make this one of the year's moviegoing musts -- and even or especially at her most deranged, Kim Hye-ja's amazing mother is profoundly, passionately human.
70
The New Yorker by Anthony Lane
The fact that Mother keeps its balance is a tribute to the leading actress.
70
Key casting is aces, led by a deglammed Kim, forcefully low-key as the mother who seems capable of anything to protect her son.
70
For all its jarring sound design and herky-jerky pacing, founded on sudden incidents or shocking accidents, Mother is deftly plotted, applying Hitchcockian suspense with a Hitchcockian sense of fair play.
100
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
An absolutely phenomenal film by the Korean director Bong Joon-ho.
40
Bong is so concerned with whodunit that his creaky genre mechanics diminish Kim's determined performance.
90
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
The hard-pounding heart of Mother, Ms. Kim is a wonderment. Perched on the knife edge between tragedy and comedy, her delivery gives the narrative -- which tends to drift, sometimes beguilingly, sometimes less so -- much of its momentum.
91
Again as with Bong's earlier films, Mother is a genre exercise that honors convention, yet weaves around it whenever possible. Bong carefully turns Mother into a classic gumshoe tale, with red herrings, interrogations, and moments of sublime suspense.
Bong Joon-ho's filmography beyond the Best Picture winning Parasite is teeming with great movies ready to be seen by a wider audience, and Mother is one such film. Intriguing, surprising, and full of twists, this noir-esque story of a mother turned unlikely detective is anchored by a great performance by Kim Hye-ja.