Broker (2023)
90%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Broker skirts the edges of sentimentality, but is consistently grounded by Kore-eda Hirokazu’s warm, tenderly melancholic approach.
“Broker” is a film that walks the line between sentimentality and melancholia, but stays grounded thanks to the tender approach of director Kore-eda Hirokazu.
Production Company(ies)
CJ ENM, CJ Entertainment, Foreign Language, Netflix, Road Trip / Journey
Distributor
NEON
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Pohang, Korea (South); Gangwon-Do, Korea (South); Seoul, Korea (South); Busan, Korea (South); Icheon-Si, Korea (South)
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
2022
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital, Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 9m
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Language(s):Korean
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Country of origin:Korea (South)
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 26, 2022 Limited
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
broker, drama, Korean, Hirokazu Koreeda, Lee Eugene, Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won, Bae Doo-na, Lee Ji-eun, Lee Joo-Young, Kang Gil-woo, R, box office, $1.0M, reviewed by James Berardinelli, Tim Cogshell, Jenny Nulf, Michael O’Sullivan, Randy Myers, Lindsey Bahr, Jared Mobarak, Simon Miraudo, Andrew F Peirce, Elaine Cho, Robert Roten, produced by Lee Eugene, Dolby Digital, Flat (1.85:1), legal adoption, orphaned infants, affluent couples, family, journey, Detective Lee, Mr Lim, Soo-jin, Sang-hyeon, Dong-soo, So-young, limited release, NEON, aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $18,782,108
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: $1,046,899
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend: $3,265
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $3,496
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,830
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Gang Dong-won – Dong-soo
Bae Doo-na – Soo-jin
Lee Ji-eun – So-young
Lee Joo-Young – Detective Lee
Kang Gil-woo – Mr. Lim
Hirokazu Koreeda – Director, Writer
Lee Eugene – Producer
Director(s)
Hirokazu Koreeda
Writer(s)
Hirokazu Koreeda, Hirokazu Koreeda
Producer(s)
Lee Eugene
Film Festivals
Cannes, Telluride, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (116) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (109) | Rotten (7)
The production feeds both the intellectual and emotional appetites of those who appreciate intimate motion picture experiences and that seems almost as foreign in today’s American cinematic climate as the language spoken by the characters.
January 20, 2023 | Rating: 3/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
You wouldn’t think a movie about selling babies would be funny — but it’s funny.
January 18, 2023
Tim Cogshell
FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
TOP CRITIC
The charm of Kore-eda’s films is the layering of complex characters, and he puts a lot of heart and time into each of them, sculpting intricate emotions and relationships that connect with the viewer.
January 12, 2023 | Rating: 4/5
Jenny Nulf
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
… A story whose darker themes of social dysfunction and fissure are sublimated into a fable of surprising sweetness.
January 11, 2023 | Rating: 3/4
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
What could have been a train wreck if it were an American comedy/drama turns into a funny, sad, brittle, beautiful and absolutely strange odyssey wherein the image of family gets distorted and reimagined in the most touching way imaginable.
January 5, 2023 | Rating: 3.5/4
Randy Myers
San Jose Mercury News
TOP CRITIC
Despite all the ingredients for a certain kind of film, writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda had something different in mind. In Broker, he’s made a quiet road trip film about some gentle souls in difficult situations and the makeshift family they become.
December 28, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Lindsey Bahr
Associated Press
TOP CRITIC
With fantastic performances and an intelligence to the storytelling that refuses to sacrifice authenticity for happy endings, he’s showing us society’s flaws while highlighting those best suited to fix them: the ones harmed most by their injustice.
February 10, 2023 | Rating: 8/10
Jared Mobarak
Hey, Have You Seen …?
Another thoughtful drama about a cobbled-together foster family from Hirokazu Kore-eda.
February 10, 2023 | Rating: 3/5
Simon Miraudo
Movie Squad (RTRFM 92.1)
This yet another grand entry in an already esteemed career from one of the finest working filmmakers today.
January 31, 2023
Andrew F. Peirce
The Curb
Broker is a movie that distinctly blends Japanese director Kore-eda’s sensibilities with those of Korea.
January 29, 2023 | Rating: A
Elaine Cho
Mediaversity Reviews
While the overly busy and improbable plot didn’t make much sense to me, the characters are compelling and the main actors are quite appealing. The actors are quite convincing in forming these unlikely, complex, feel-good relationships with each other.
January 27, 2023 | Rating: B
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
Watch Broker because it resists the temptation of being overly sappy and saccharine sweet, which it could easily have, and for the stellar performances.
January 27, 2023 | Rating: 3.5/5
Dhaval Roy
The Times of India…
Plot
A baby box is a small space where parents can leave behind their babies anonymously. Sang-Hyun and Dong-Soo find new parents for these babies and make special deals with them, calling themselves brokers of good will. They get involved with So-Young, who placed her baby in the box but has now come back. Meanwhile, Detective Soo-Jin and Detective Lee chase after them.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Song Kang-ho, who plays Sang-hyeon in the film, is a highly acclaimed South Korean actor known for his roles in several award-winning films, including Parasite, Memories of Murder, and The Host.
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