Mother (Madeo)

Last night I saw the Korean film Madeo (Mother) with my friend Mark. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. It was intense, and thrilling, and held my attention until the end. I really enjoyed the questions it raised, not so much about life, but just about what exactly happened. There were many mysteries left unanswered. You get to write your own ending. The acting was superb, which surprised me because I tend to find that foreign film acting disappoints me. This is not because the acting is "bad", it is just set against different standards in the home country. Good acting in Japan is different from good acting in France is different from good acting in America. Still, I usually avoid foreign films for this reason, but Mother had accrued such a buzz that I could not pass it up. I was not disappointed. The story was totally believable and the cinematography was beautiful and built suspense very well. The editing was clever, and I appreciated the inner struggle that came to life within the actors. It was one of the best psychological thrillers I've seen all year, far better than Chloe. I would recommend it to anyone who does not mind reading subtitles for two hours. :)