Gang Dong-won Archives - Sean Kelly On Movies

A pair of human traffickers are joined by an unwanted baby’s mother to find new parents to sell it to in Broker. So-young (Lee Ji-eun) is a young mother who drops her baby off at a box at the Busan Family Church, who is then intercepted by church worker Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) and laundry-owner Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho), who are partners in a human trafficking ring, where they sell unwanted babies to wealthy new parents. However, Dong-soo and Sang-hyun are surprised when So-young returns wanting her child back. The three end up going on a roadtrip to find new parents for So-young’s baby, all while being pursued by detective Ji-Sun (Doona Bae) and her colleague (Lee Joo-young). Broker is drama from director Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters) about an unconventional family made of of human traffickers Dong-soo and Sang-hyun, So-young, the mother of the baby they are trying to sell, and orphan boy Hai-jin (Seung-soo Im), who stows away aboard Sang-hyun’s van. During the road trip to find her parents of So-young’s baby, the group ends up bonding in unexpected ways, all while detective Ji-Sun finds a way to entrap them. Broker is a film that is just as heart-warming as it is heart-wrenching. Over the course of the story, we learn of So-young’s dark past and the reasons why she felt the need to abandon her baby. There is almost a point in the film where you want this ragtag family to stay together as a unit, which only serves to make the final act of Broker all the more heartbreaking.

Broker – TIFF 2022

Train to Busan presents Peninsula