Broker

"Sometimes funny, often melancholy... about ties that bind makeshift families made of the abandoned and forgotten. The circumstances wound you; the redemptions soothe."

"Broker is an incredibly moving film. It reminded me a lot of “The Farewell,” in the sense that it illuminated a problem I didn’t even know existed because it’s not a part of my culture. This film managed to tell me a great story about moral ambiguity discussing a thing I didn’t realize existed before I walked into the theater without devoting a bunch of time over-explaing the circumstances. Speaking of which: the exposition is masterfully done. There’s not a lot of fat on this 2hr 9 min movie. Where most movies will state the circumstance plainly so the audience knows exactly what is going on, “Broker” chooses instead to have all of their characters talk to each other like real people and let the audience figure things out through context. Similar to his character from “Parasite” Song Kang-Ho delivers another wonderfully empathetic performance of a scumbag with a heart of gold. Other notable performances are Bae Donn and IU who essentially play opposite sides of the same coin. Lee Joo-Young also has great chemistry with Bae Donn – which is good since their scenes are almost exclusively with each other. The film takes many opportunities to show how there are so many systems created to help or protect people, but inherently are more incentivized to punish. Bae Donn even says to Lee Joo-Young in one scene that their job isn’t to prevent bad things from happening – it’s to punish those who do bad things. Beyond the movie making us fall in love with the makeshift family of criminals on a morally bankrupt road trip, the scenes between two detectives help emphasize the moral ambiguity of the situation. I mean, let’s face it: There are no bad performances in this movie. Even Seung-soo Im who plays the little boy is great. Definitely worth the price of admission. If you want a break from watching Avatar, this is the perfect little surprisingly funny film about a heartbreaking subject. "

"See this movie today! Heartwarming, sad, complicated film about what it means to make your own family in unexpected ways. "