From Director Johnny Ma and EP Pablo Larraín Comes the Heartfelt Dramedy THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR, Opening in Theaters 1/2

From Director Johnny Ma and EP Pablo Larraín comes THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR, a tender, off-beat dramedy about a mother, a daughter, and the chaotic, sometimes absurd ways we try to protect the people we love. The film, which premiered in the Centrepiece section of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, arrives with the support of multi–Oscar nominee Pablo Larraín, whose taste for emotionally sharp, character-driven stories is an ideal match for Johnny Ma’s sensibility.

The film centers on Sara, played by acclaimed Korean actress Kim Ho-jung, who rushes from Seoul to icy Winnipeg after her 26-year-old daughter Sumi is left comatose following an accident. Faced with the terrifying possibility of an uncertain recovery, Sara channels her fear into a misguided mission: finding her daughter a future husband—preferably Korean—before she wakes up. Her tool of choice is a dating app, where she catfishes on Sumi’s behalf, stumbling into awkward, funny, and unexpectedly moving encounters.

As she navigates her daughter’s digital life from a bleak Canadian winter, Sara’s meddling gradually becomes something deeper. What begins as an act of anxious maternal control transforms into a journey of self-reflection and change, forcing her to reconsider her own beliefs about love, agency, and what it means to truly care for someone.

For Johnny Ma, THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR represents a meaningful evolution in a career shaped by stories of displacement, family, and complicated moral terrain. Born in Shanghai and raised in Toronto from age ten, Ma first gained attention with A Grand Canal, which premiered at TIFF in 2013. His debut feature, Old Stone, earned the Best Canadian First Feature Award at TIFF 2016 and later at the Canadian Screen Awards, while his second film, To Live to Sing, premiered to acclaim at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2019. His collaboration with Pablo Larraín began on Netflix’s HOMEMADE, where Ma contributed an isolation short alongside Kristen Stewart and Ana Lily Amirpour.

THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR continues Ma’s tradition of emotionally resonant, culturally layered filmmaking, balancing humor with vulnerability. It’s a portrait of a woman reckoning not just with her daughter’s future, but with her own identity and desires. As Sara stumbles through the digital rubble of Sumi’s interrupted life, she discovers that connection—romantic, familial, or otherwise—is rarely tidy, and never fully within our control.

Opening in theaters on January 2, THE MOTHER AND THE BEAR stands as a heartfelt exploration of renewal, belonging, and the unpredictable paths that carry us toward change.