Broker (2022)

January 13, 2023 10:43 PM

A baby is left at a safe haven church for reasons unknown, but finds its way into the hands of low-level "brokers" (Song Kang-Ho and Gang Dong-Won), who offer the ambivalent mother (Ji-eun Lee) a cut of the money to place the child outside of the formal Korean adoption system. The ragtag group is followed on the road by human-trafficking detectives and other pursuers.

A sad, sweet little film about a nominally grim subject. Viewers with a taste for found family stories will probably enjoy this.

posted by praemunire (1 comment total)

I enjoyed this, though it went a little too bittersweet/touching for my taste. I've seen three or four other Hirokazu Koreeda movies and I'm never quite sure what to expect beyond it being well-made and a little depressing. I felt like the movie was tempting me to open up my heart like those characters were, but I stood back like, "No, thanks, I'm ok" lol.

The "comedy" and "fun" genre labels on Prime feel a bit generous.

Reminded me a little bit of a hyper-sincere Raising Arizona with its baby-desperate underworld yearning to be completed with a child.
posted by fleacircus at 8:34 PM on July 29, 2023