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Pieta

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Pieta

Released May 17, 2013

1h 43m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

73%

Tomatometer

55 Reviews

72%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

In Seoul, a loan shark's brutal enforcer (Lee Jung-jin) turns away from his violent lifestyle after he meets a woman (Jo Min-soo) who says she's the long-lost mother who abandoned him when he was just an infant.

Critics Consensus

It lacks subtlety and depth of character, but Pieta gets by with committed performances and a darkly ambitious, deceptively simple message.

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Max Kyburz

Film Comment Magazine

Succeeds in repulsing and enlightening viewers simultaneously, even if its views on self-sacrifice and redemption are cynical.

Nov 4, 2013

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Guy Lodge

HitFix

Nasty is as nasty does, and this lurid if aspirational potboiler does its thing, but the camera could have been let in on the joke.

Rated: C

Sep 11, 2013

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

Oedipal metaphysics give way to something altogether more mundane, but Jo and Lee are committed leads, the former carrying the burden of the movie with motherly care and attention.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 9, 2013

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David Bax

Battleship Pretension

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the imprecise but effective way Kang-do destroys human bodies is the frank simplicity with which Kim presents it.

Mar 18, 2021

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Young-jik manages to tap into the dreary desolation of Ki-duk's screenplay, and we're left in a perpetual nightmare until the final frames.

Nov 13, 2020

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Brent McKnight

The Last Thing I See

Bad people doing bad things that will occasionally make your stomach churn.

Rated: B

Jul 9, 2020

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Audience Member

Even when it has some points in its favor, specially about the things it wants to say, "Pieta" is nothing more than a tasteless porn-misery incestuos drama that never gets to achieve anything good in any technical level. It is hard to swallow, but only because is a raw, meaning uncooked, empty provocation.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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nefasto r

The story is good, shame that the film is awful, to me really unwatchable, so I'll never know how it ends.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

เป็นหนังการล้างแค้นที่มีแต่ความเจ็บปวด ชอบพล็อตเรื่องที่ไม่ค่อยเหมือนใคร สนุก

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Balas dendam. Balas dendam. Balas dendam.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

Living on the edge of evilness and beyond. A ruthless villain, gets into some emotional trouble over some sudden heartcare towards himself. Love turn you blind and so on, great and twisted adaption of love-hate-fool-me-twice.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

Sad but interesting and at times brutal korean art house. Not amazing or groundbreaking but definitely a well made picture. Exploring Korean cinema...a good watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

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Kim Ki-duk

Director

Lee Jung-jin

Kang-do

Jo Min-soo

Min-sun

Woo Gi-hong

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Synopsis

In Seoul, a loan shark's brutal enforcer (Lee Jung-jin) turns away from his violent lifestyle after he meets a woman (Jo Min-soo) who says she's the long-lost mother who abandoned him when he was just an infant.

Director: Kim Ki-duk
Producer: Kim Soon-mo
Screenwriter: Kim Ki-duk
Distributor: Drafthouse Films
Production Co: Kim Ki-Duk Film, Good Films, Finecut
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Korean
Release Date (Theaters): May 17, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 15, 2017
Runtime: 1h 43m