Premiering in the Toronto International Film Festival’s 2024 Centrepiece program, filmmaker Johnny Ma’s (Oldstone, 2016, To Live to Sing, 2019), latest film The Mother and the Bear is a cosmic fairytale, but not quite, exploration of what it means for a mother and widow to rediscover her femininity and personhood as a woman, as she discovers who her daughter is following an accident.
Veteran South Korean actress Kim Ho-jung (Queenmaker, 2023, A French Woman, 2022) plays Sara, a widow from Seoul who rushes to the snow covered city of Winnipeg, Canada after receiving the call that her daughter Su-mi (Leere Park) has fallen into a coma after an accident. As she spends time in Su-mi’s apartment looking through the signs of a life removed from what she believes of her daughter, Sara herself realises that she herself has turned into a woman she stopped recognizing years ago.
Sarah, believing that what Su-mi needs to have in her is a husband to be complete, she embarks on a personal quest to find a potential son-in-law. Which is much harder than she anticipated in a new city and era she doesn’t understand, but is perhaps just what she needs to learn about who she can be.
In my interview with Johnny, we discuss his real life inspiration for Sarah, the film’s fairytale elements and ties to Korean and East Asian folklore, and what made Kim Ho-jung perfect to play the character of Sarah.
Carolyn Hinds
Freelance Film Critic, Journalist, Podcaster & YouTuber
African American Film Critics Association Member, Tomatometer-Approved Critic
Host & Producer Carolyn Talks…, and So Here’s What Happened! Podcast
Bylines at http://Authory.com/CarolynHinds
Twitter & Instagram: @CarrieCnh12
#KCrush #TIFF24 #TIFF #The MotherandTheBearFilm #TorontoInternationalFilmFestival #MultinationalFilm #AsianCinema #KoreanActress #KDrama #KoreanDiaspora
User Review
( votes)Related Articles
BLACKSWAN Prepares to Show New Colors in KPOPPED
On August 29, 2025, the world will be able to tune into Apple TV+ and binge KPOPPED, a new competition series unlike anything we’ve experienced before. Artists from around the world will collaborate to reimagine one of their chart-topping songs,... Read More
KCrush Interview with Hwina
Rising K-pop newcomer Hwina is captivating listeners with her poetic lyricism and emotional depth. After debuting with hits like "Like a Tree", she quickly became a name to watch, not only for her delicate yet expressive vocals but also for her... Read More
Fantasia IFF 2025 – KCrush Interview with ‘Haunted Mountain: The Yellow Taboo’ with Director Tsai Chia Ying and Producer Ivan Chen
We know the five stages of grief to be denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, but what if there’s a sixth unnamed emotion? Regret. Written by Zou Wan-Zhen (Women in Taipei), and directed by Tsai Chai-ying (The Remains), the new... Read More
Jeonju IFF 2025 -KCruch Interview with “Toe Tapping Tunes”, Filmmaker Lee Jung-hyun
During the 25th annual Jeonju International Film Festival, award-winning South Korean actress and singer, Lee Jung-hyun made her directorial debut with the dramatic short Toe-Tapping Tunes, alternatively titled Going to See the Flowers, in which... Read More
Fantasia IFF 2025 KCrush Interview with ‘Noise’ Filmmaker Kim Soo-jin
When describing sound or music that evokes feelings of being uneasy, overwhelmed, confused, or scared we call it noise. Noise connotes something that’s undefined in a way that music and sound aren’t, and in his award winning feature Noise,... Read More
Jeonju IFF 2025 ‘Colorless, Odorless’ Interview with Director Lee Eunhee and Producer Kim Shinjae
For her debut feature length documentary Colorless, Odorless, which screened as an official selection at the 2025 Jeonju International Film Festival, experimental visual artist and filmmaker Lee Eunhee investigates the toxic and deadly nature of the... Read More
KCrush Interview With Lemiti U: Interview Responses by CheMis
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about Lemiti U and this very personal project. Below are the responses to your interview questions: 1. Can you introduce Lemiti U & the story behind its formation? Lemiti U was born from the creative urge to... Read More
Jeonju IFF 2025 KCrush Interview with ‘Ulysses’ Filmmaker Uwagawa Hikaru
Is there any singular moment in our lives that is ever truly without meaning? In his debut feature film Ulysses, Japanese filmmaker Uwagawa Hikari seeks to find this out through seemingly random improvised sequence of events and discussions... Read More
KCrush Interview with 스카프(SC4F)
From gritty lyricism to turbo-charged beats, SC4F has quickly carved out his name in Korea’s rising underground hip-hop scene. Known for his high-octane “Twin Turbo” series and dynamic collaborations with MADII, SC4F continues to push sonic... Read More
Leave a Reply