“Mother” (Analysis): A Twisted but Hilarious Murder Mystery (+Review)

This post includes a brief plot summary, an analysis, a review and an explanation about the ending of the film Mother / Madeo (2009). You’ll also find a character analysis of Do-joon’s mother. Beware of spoilers.

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Is there a point where a mother’s love becomes toxic? Directed by Bong Joon-ho, the 2009 South Korean drama stars Kim Hye-ja as “Mother” and Won Bin as Yoon Do-joon.

Bong Joon-ho’s “Mother” tells the story of a woman who is willing to go extreme lengths to prove her son’s innocence.

One day, the police find a dead teenage girl named Ah-jung on the rooftop of an abandoned building. Circumstantial evidence points towards a mentally disabled young man named Do-joon. The police arrest him immediately. Nevertheless, there is one person who still believes that Do-joon didn’t do it: his mother.

“Mother” starts conducting her own personal investigation. She finds that Ah-jung’s had a promiscuous past: the girl used to sell her body in exchange for rice cakes. The closest lead at the moment is Ah-jung’s best friend. But before “Mother” could ask more questions about Ah-jung, two boys appear and take the friend away.

The two boys seized Ah-jung’s phone from her friend and ran away. Together with Jin-tae (Do-joon’s best friend), “Mother” tracks down the boys. Jin-tae beats them quite severely and gets some interesting information from them.

Apparently, Ah-jung took a picture of everyone whom she ever had sex with. Having said that, whoever gets their hands on that list will hold immense power to blackmail those individuals. Meanwhile, “Mother” gathers another clue: a junk collector who Do-joon saw at the night of the murder.

The woman goes to the old man’s house under the pretext of selling him acupuncture services. During the conversation, the junk collector recalls seeing Do-joon throwing a giant rock at Ah-jung and then dragging her dead body to the rooftop. Just when the man was about to report it to the police, “Mother” steps in and kills him. Then she sets his residence on fire.

Then the tide of events takes a new turn, the police have a new suspect for the case: “crazy JP”, Ah-jung’s rumoured boyfriend. The police found Ah-jung’s blood stains on his shirt. “Mother” goes to prison to see “crazy JP” and she bursts into tears. This woman knows that “crazy JP” is innocent.

Do-joon is released from prison and “Mother” goes on a trip. The film ends with Do-joon returning to his mother her acupuncture kit (the one she lost in the fire) and telling her to be more careful. His words leave her absolutely horrified. After onboarding the bus, “Mother” performs acupuncture on herself and dances with the other passengers.

The film “Mother” is about hidden desires, guilt and the dangers of unconditional love.

Because of his mental disability, the audience is led to believe that Do-joon is an asexual being. This is an assumption mainly derived from our personal biases. In reality, Do-joon is a man with desires too, hence why he was stalking Ah-jung during that fateful night.

There are two pivotal moments that show “Mother” is a woman who carries a lot of guilt in her heart. The first instance would be the fact that she poisoned her own son, which resulted in serious life-long injuries that stunted Do-joon’s mental growth. Then, the second moment would be when she sends an innocent man to jail.

Throughout the film, the protagonist’s extreme efforts to prove his son’s innocence are indeed moving. Nevertheless, there is a downside to her unconditional love: it’s selfish sometimes. In order to save her son, she is willing to send a young man who didn’t commit the crime to jail. That is morally wrong.

The ending of “Mother” is both chilling and unsettling, as it shows that mother and son know each other’s dark secrets.

Bong Joon-ho is a master storyteller, constantly “misleading” the audience about the true killer of Ah-jung. In the end, it becomes very clear that Do-joon is the real killer. He didn’t remember because he has frequent memory lapses.

The junk collector had no reason to lie to Do-joon’s mother because he didn’t even know who she was. “Crazy” JP was also innocent. The blood stains came from Ah-jung’s nosebleeds. He didn’t rape Ah-jung nor did he kill her.

After the truth was revealed, “Mother” and son will never be able to get back to where they were. Ever since Do-joon’s release from prison, “Mother” has been treating her son like a stranger. The protagonist knows that her “precious boy” is a murderer.

The “abyss” between “Mother” and Do-joon deepens when the latter hints that he knows that she killed the junk collector. This realization sparks pure terror in “Mother” who ran away from her son as fast as she could.

In order to get rid of her guilt, “Mother” applies acupuncture to herself and dances until she forgets all the bad memories that haunt her conscience.

The protagonist of this story is a complicated and flawed human being.

“Mother” wants the world to perceive her as a great parent, but she is not. As the events unravel, the audience finds out why Do-joon is the way he is. When Do-joon was five, his mother tried to kill him and then kill herself. But the poison wasn’t strong enough.

Having said that, there is a reason why “Mother” treats Do-joon so well. However, it’s not about pity but guilt. And Do-joon knows this because he still remembers the poisoning incident.

Also, there is another layer to “Mother”’s actions. When this woman killed the junk collector, she wasn’t only trying to protect Do-joon and his image: she was protecting herself too. “Mother” wants the world to believe that Do-joon is a “good boy” and that she raised him right. Anything that contradicts this ideal means that she was a bad mother and she hates the thought of it.

To sum it all up, “Mother” is not very good at owning her mistakes, that is why she never learns. When life got hard, she tried to kill his son. In addition, she has other crimes under her belt: she killed a witness and sent an innocent man to prison. So, not only is she not a good parent, but she’s also a danger to society.

Final Thoughts

Mother / Madeo is a sad tale, told in a very funny way. The film plays a lot with our own personal biases. Do-joon is an innocent-looking individual, that’s why the audience will have a hard time believing that he is the real killer.

Between Do-joon and Ah-jung, I believe the latter had a much harder life. First of all, almost everybody in town was taking advantage of her. Unlike Do-joon, Ah-jung had no one to take care of her. Her promiscuous life is a result of her hardships, it wasn’t a lifestyle choice.

Do-joon’s mother has one of the best character arcs in the story. She starts as a poor lady on a relentless search to find the killer behind a young girl’s murder, then she spirals into a crazy lady that’s trying to kill everyone that knows the real truth.

Overall, “Mother” is a masterpiece that showcases storytelling at its best. The director, Bong Joon-ho, really flipped the script with that major plot twist. He really fooled the audience, but in a good way.