At a Korean church, unwanted babies can be left in a baby box. Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) works at the church and runs a scam with his friend Ha Sang-hyeon (Song Kang-ho). They take and sell the babies on the adoption black market. But when a young mother, So-young (Ji-eun Lee) comes back after having abandoned her baby, she discovers them and decides to go with them on a road trip to interview the baby’s potential parents. Meanwhile, two detectives, Soo-jin (Bae Doona) and Lee (Lee Joo-young), are on their trail.
For a subtitled movie, Broker seems to be doing decent business at the box office. It is easy to understand why as it is a feelgood story that ends in the way you would expect. Initially, I was hoping to spend more time with the cop characters as they had a great dynamic and Lee Joo-young in particular is really good. But as the film continued, I became more engaged with the curious ‘family’ group at the centre of proceedings, thanks largely to the sympathetic performances of Lee Ji-eun and Gang Dong-won.
Having said that, writer and director Kore-eda Hirokazu does let the story drift. There is an extended sequence based at an orphanage that goes on way too long and the movie almost grinds to a halt because of it. On the other hand, major events are rushed later in the running time.
Quite enjoyable but could have done with some judicious editing.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10