Watch the trailer for controversial Korean crime drama Pieta

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

PIETA, which beat THE MASTER for the grand prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival, is finally getting a North American release thanks to Drafthouse Films. Despite getting acclaim across the globe, PIETA failed to qualify for the Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and is just starting to get some buzz here in the States. From this trailer, it seems to share a lot in common with OLDBOY in regards to the dynamic between the parent and offspring characters.

Directed by Kim Ki-Duk (3-IRON), the movie is at once a crime drama and a psycho-sexual thriller. Doing some basic Google searches on the film will lead you to plot details involving incest and cannibalism. With that in mind, check out the brilliant trailer below.

Here’s the plot synopsis:

In this intense and haunting story, a loan shark living an isolated and lonely existence uses brutality to threaten and collect paybacks from desperate borrowers for his moneylender boss. He proficiently and mercilessly collects the debts without regard to the pain he causes his countless victims. One day, a mysterious woman appears in front of him claiming to be his long-lost mother. After coldly rejecting her at first, he gradually accepts her in his life and decides to quit his cruel job and seek a decent, redemptive life. However, he soon discovers a dark secret stemming from his past and realizes it may be too late to escape the horrific consequences already set in motion from his previous life.

I have said it before and I will say it again, Korean cinema seems to be one of the top exporters of original and challenging cinema these days. Of course we only get the cream of the crop here, but what we do get seems to be pretty damn interesting. Drafthouse Films will be releasing PIETA theatrically on May 17, 2013. Check out the awesome Mondo poster for the movie below.