Broker
The inspiration behind the movie's story and reason for the South Korean setting is down to the country's implementation of "baby boxes," which are little hatches where people can bring and abandon babies anonymously in a safe place. Perhaps imagining how such a system could be exploited, Broker tells the story of two guys that occasionally steal babies and try to find them homes with good potential parents that are struggling to navigate South Korea's complicated adoption process. It might be hard for some to get over the murky morality of such a concept, even if the movie gently asks (without answering) if it's not better to engage in benevolent child trafficking rather than doom children to a broken foster care system.
Our two baby robbers (played by Gang Dong-won and Parasite's breakout star Song Kang-ho) run into a snag when the mother of the next baby they plan to sell (popstar Lee Ji-eun) decides she wants her baby back and uncovers the smuggling operation. Instead of turning them in, she decides to help them find her baby a good home, all while two police detectives (Bae Doona and Lee Joo-young) are closing in.
It's an absurd premise and one where you'd think that there would be no way that you end up emotionally connecting with the "bad guys," but Kore-ada slowly and compassionately reveals details about the two robbers and their newest mom accomplice, and by the end you have so much empathy for the group that you are begging for them to get away with it. Much like in Kore-ada's 2018 Palme d'Or-winning movie Shoplifters, the movie is asking you who your family truly is: your genetic relations who may have forgotten you exist, or the people who will stand by and support you even in the face of an impossible life-altering decision?
Song Kang-ho is a true movie star, and it's impossible to take your eyes off his goofy, down on their luck, "aw shucks" characters. He has great chemistry with his partner Gang Dong-won, and both are aided tremendously by the surprisingly standout performance from Lee Ji-eun (also known as the singer IU). Ji-eun effortlessly captures the conflicted emotions of a mother put in an impossible situation, torn between wanting to keep her child and knowing that she can't possibly take care of it. There's a scene towards the end where the ragtag family is saying good night to each other that is so lovely (and tear inducing), and Ji-eun's realization that there are people who care for her is heartbreaking.
It's an unexpectedly gentle and sweet story given the plot details, and one that invites you to put cynicism and judgment on the back burner in favor of the spirt of human connection. And you know, maybe ignore the criminality of baby stealing for a little while at least.
