Hi, Mom (2021)

Director: Ling Jia

Starring: Ling Jia, Xiaofei Zhang, Teng Shen

A woman travels back in time to befriend her own mother in an attempt to make her life better.

We’ve certainly seen a fare share of time travel movies in every conceivable genre. This comedy drama might initially come across as a predictable time travel movie, but hey, this is Korean cinema, so it’s not all that predictable.

‘Hi, Mom’ is beautifully filmed with good photography and cinematography, and I found the protagonist, Jia Xiao Ling, absolutely adorable – well portrayed by Ling Jia. For most part the film is a comedy, but – just like ‘Miracle in Cell No. 7’, turns dramatic very quickly during the finale.

The film went from an interesting and promising start to a rather slow and somewhat boring second act, with little that interested me. It just felt too long, with too much (unnecessary) detail. There were also a few character issues I won’t mention in order to avoid spoilers. The film then sort of redeemed itself during the third act, and the finale grabbed me – like a stake through the heart! Ling Jia stole the show in every scene she was in. She was wonderful! ‘Hi, Mom’ is a very sad, feel-good movie, with a powerful message.

‘Hi, Mom’ was a huge box office success, raking in $841 million on a $59 million budget. It became the second highest grossing foreign language film of all time, and so far the highest grossing film of 2021 – during a time when social distancing was still the order of the day due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

While it was indeed a good film, the above facts are beyond comprehension. It really wasn’t that great a movie… was it?

In Korean.

Would I watch it again? No.