Mother (15)

At once nail-bitingly tense and brimming with humanity, Korean director Bong’s (Memories of Murder and The Host) terrific film comes fresh from sweeping the Asian Film Awards with a hat-trick of Best Film, Best Script and Best Actress.

This taut, unsentimental, Hitchcockian dissection of a mother defending her son at all costs remains consistently unpredictable right up to its supremely satisfying climax.

When Kim Hye-ja’s nameless mother of the title discovers that her 27 year old son, suffering from learning difficulties, has been arrested for the murder of a young girl, she obsessively sets out to track down the real killer and prove her son’s innocence.

This is a tour-de-force from a filmmaker at the very top of his game as this gripping blend of thriller and melodrama takes Bong’s already considerable skills as a filmmaker to a whole new level.

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