Lee Yong-ae returns to the screen after a fourteen-year absence to start in Kim Seung-woo's feature film debut Bring Me Home. Her 6-year-old son Yoon -su disappears one day without a trace for 6 years. Then Jung-Yeon (Lee) gets an anonymous tip that her son is in a fishing village. The tipster requests a reward ahead of giving out a partial reward payment to the caller ahead of heading to the village. Once there, events do not unfold smoothly the local Sgt.corruptly blocking Jung-Yeon at every turn while smiling and appearing to be cooperative to her face. Jung-Yeon sees signs that something is off in the village and small signs that boy the age that her son would be today is present in the village.
Director Kim Seung-woo helms a difficult tale where both the young boy and Jung-Yeon are treated horribly. The boy is abused forced to work long hours each day and spends his nights in a small section of a shipping container avoiding the advances of a dim-witted hulk who visits at night to abuse him. Jung-Yeon is mocked, ridiculed, and threatened both emotionally and physically as she steadfastly continues her pursuit.
Lee Yonge-ae shines as the dedicated, driven, and always hopeful Jung-Yeon. Her time away from the screen has been too long and hopefully, this project will catapult her into many new ones soon. Yoo Jae-Myung plays our heroine's main adversary with clinched teeth glee. He is a cop and not shy of always pronouncing the fact but he is right in the middle of the forced labour, beatings, and confinement of two boys of unknown origins in the village. His depravity peaks during a hunting scene when he kills a mother and her fawn forcing Min-su the subject of the tip to carry the animal back to the village perched on his shoulders.
The narrative turns bleaker as the action progresses. There are a lot of unconformable scenes and activities portrayed on screen that another director might infer that director Kim Seung -woo focuses in on for all to see. Some may find the content disturbing especially the violence toward children and depressing but there is some commentary lying beneath on the portrayal of poor country folk juxtaposed to big city Seoul dwellers.
*** Out of 4
Bring Me Home | Kim Seung-woo | South Korea | 2019| 108 Minutes.
Tags: Missing Child, Reward, Tipster, Fishing Village, Corrupt Cop, Child Abuse, Forced Labour, Handcuffs, Pick Axe, Birthmark, Ketamine.
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