Broker (2022)
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Film details
Drama · Hirokazu Koreeda · 2h 9min
Synopsis
Sang-hyun is always struggling from debt, and Dong-soo works at a baby box facility. On a rainy night, they steal the baby Woo-sung, who was left in the baby box, to sell him at a good price. Meanwhile, detectives were watching, and they quietly track them down to capture the crucial evidence.
Verdict
A morally complex story about child abandonment and illegal adoption.
In-depth analysis
Broker presents a group of characters who steal babies from a church's baby box to sell them on the black market for adoptions. The plot follows the mother who returns and joins the journey with the traffickers, while two detectives pursue them. The film explores the human motivations behind illegal acts without justifying them. Sang-hyeon, a church volunteer, and his partner operate from a place of apparent compassion, yet the story reveals the moral tensions generated by the trade of children. There are no elements of gender ideology or relativism that seek to redefine family or human nature. The central conflict is ethical and practical: child abandonment, irregular adoption, and the consequences of circumventing established norms. The tone is observational and human, neither celebrating the crime nor presenting easy solutions. The presence of the church functions as a framework for the action rather than as an element of criticism or praise.