For those who were born and raised in ESEA regions but now study or live abroad without their parents around, “The Mother and the Bear” may evoke certain resonance by blending featured Asian family culture within a transnational context. As a Chinese-Canadian film director and screenwriter, Johnny Ma gets exposure to non-Chinese narratives for the first time after “Old Stone” (2016) and “To Live to Sing” (2019), demonstrating an understanding of cultural fusion that appears to stem from his lived experience and close observation.
The story begins with a 26-year-old girl, Sumi Kim (Leere Park), who emigrated to Winnipeg several years ago. While she seems to be enjoying life there as an exotic, her mother, Sara (Kim Ho-jung), who remains in South Korea, grows increasingly anxious about her daughter living alone so far away. One day, Sumi is reported to have been attacked by a bear in a downtown area and subsequently falls into a coma. Upon hearing the news, Sara immediately flies to Canada to care for her beloved daughter. Finding herself in a completely unfamiliar city, Sara embarks on a journey of discovery, attempting to understand how and why Sumi has lived her life the way she has over the years.
While Sumi retains hospitalized and unconscious, Sara temporarily moves into her daughter’s house. As a traditional Korean mother, her foremost concern is to find a reliable boyfriend for Sumi. Acting on this belief, she learns how to download a dating app and posts Sumi’s profile in search of potential matches. At the hospital, she encounters Min (Jonathan Kim), the boyfriend of a nurse—robust, handsome, and seemingly the embodiment of her ideal son-in-law. As her journey unfolds, Sara also meets Sam (Lee Won-jae), Min’s father, a divorced middle-aged man who runs a small Korean restaurant. Driven by their idealized expectations of their children’s relationship, an unexpected truth emerges as the two parents grow closer and begin to understand one another more deeply.
Through this comedic journey of strangeness and dislocation, Ma aims to explore intergenerational relationships between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, through the portrayal of conventional parenthood. However, he does not probe deeply enough into the rationale underpinning these conflicts. Although Ma incorporates elements of the Korean romcom tradition to magnify humour, the way he adopts Sumi’s prolonged inability causes the mother–daughter relationship to lack emotional chemistry, which leaves the narrative largely confined to the mother’s perspective. Moreover, the characterization of Sara often feels overly stereotypical, with waggeires at times overshadowing emotions.
This also results in Park’s performance being nearly negligible, as her character functions mostly as a narrative device through which Sara’s emotions and actions are articulated. Kim delivers the script’s comedic energy, though her youthful appearance and occasionally impetuous behavior make the credibility of her character uneven. Lee, by contrast, portrays Sam as a xenophobic yet deeply lonely father figure. While both characters change through the course of the story, Sam’s transformation feels more convincing and organic than Sara’s.
In South Korean culture, the bear often symbolizes a maternal figure—mentally resilient yet physically powerful, fiercely protective of its children. In “The Mother and the Bear”, Sara embodies an attempt to translate such maternal strength, reflecting an older generation’s desire to understand and move closer to their children.
Cinematographer Inti Briones captures the breathtaking landscapes of Winnipeg, immersing viewers in a visually striking foreign setting throughout the journey. The recurring presence of the unseen bear creates a sense of fantasy in the realistic background. Editor Valeria Hernández employs a melodramatic approach, shaping an entertaining viewing experience through a series of engaging incidents.
Overall, “The Mother and the Bear” is an entertaining melodrama that feels light and drifting. It nevertheless touches upon weighty themes, such as intergenerational communication, queerness, transnational identity, and modern relationships. Beyond its humor and frivolity, the film offers a sense of relief in watching how parents gradually learn to compromise with their children.
