The Mother and The Bear – A Reel Alternatives Film Screening

After 26-year-old Sumi suffers an accident on the streets of wintry Winnipeg, her overbearing mother Sara flies in from Seoul to be by her now comatose daughter’s side. As Sara meddles in Sumi’s life via a dating app, she ends up on a journey that will leave her forever changed.

In a departure from his previous films, Chinese Canadian filmmaker Johnny Ma embraces a new mode here, using suburban Winnipeg as the stage for a stylized, whimsical narrative of crossed wires, secret lives, and conflicting agendas. A unique mash-up of genres, The Mother and the Bear marks a bold new direction for Ma. And if you were wondering about that eponymous bear… well, you’ll just have to see the film.

Canada, Chile | 2024 | 100m | English, Korean
Director: Johnny Ma
Cast: Kim Ho-jung, Won-Jae Lee, Jonathan Kim
Distributor: Elevation 
Content Advisory: mature themes, nudity