In 2022, the Cannes International Film Festival saw some pretty tough competition with renowned auteurs like David Cronenberg, Park Chan-Wook, and Claire Denis all vying for the top prize. Amongst all that hard-fought competition, it’s hard to stick out and gain critical acclaim, let alone awards. But Broker was able to leave the festival with both after not only winning over the hearts of critics but also the lauded Best Actor prize for Song Kang-ho, which was previously held by the likes of Antonio Banderas, Mads Mikkelsen, and Samuel L. Jackson. With Broker, director Hirokazu Kore-eda has crafted an intimate and universal story about the joys and despair in found families. Broker follows the lives of several people in South Korea who work, somewhat illegally, in the business of delivering abandoned babies to new families.
Here is the official synopsis for the film:
Sang-hyeon is the owner of a hand laundry and volunteers at the nearby church, where his friend Dong-soo works. The two run an illegal business together: Sang-hyeon occasionally steals babies from the church's baby box with Dong-soo, who deletes the church's surveillance footage that shows a baby was left there. They sell the babies on the adoption black market. But when a young mother So-young comes back after having abandoned her baby, she discovers them and decides to go with them on a road trip to interview the baby's potential parents. Meanwhile, two detectives, Soo-jin and Lee, are on their trail.
For anybody who can’t wait to see this sensitive drama, here’s everything we know about how, when, and where you can watch this festival hit.
When Will Broker Be Released (And What's the Run Time)?
Broker previously premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival on May 26, 2022, but it will be distributed to US theaters by Neon on December 26. The movie has a total run time of 129 minutes.
Is There A Trailer For Broker?
A trailer for Broker was released on December 6. Opening on the modest home of the informal baby brokers, these men ask their clients to think of them as angels who look after their children and avoid the despair of orphanages. Upon meeting a young woman desperate to give up her child, they agree to help her find a parent. In their search to find the right kind of parents, they instead see that the world of acceptable and high-class adults is also one of exclusivity and rejection. Yet again, Kore-eda drives home the idea that found families are no worse than biological, nuclear ones and individual achievement is nothing in the face of communal joy.
Will Broker Be Available on Streaming the Same Day as Theaters?
Unfortunately, Brokers will not be available for streaming on the same day as its theatrical release and there is no news on when it will end up on streaming. However, Neon and Hulu signed a streaming deal in April 2017. Under the terms of the deal, Neon’s future titles will be available to stream exclusively on Hulu after their theatrical release so that's where the movie is likely to release once it does come to streaming. You can get a subscription to Hulu starting at $6.99 a month.
Broker Showtimes
You can use the following links to check for Broker showtimes and tickets at a theater near you:
Who Is the Director of Broker?
As mentioned already, the director of Broker is Hirokazu Kore-eda. Following the tradition of great Japanese directors like Yasujiro Ozu, Kore-eda has carved a place in cinema for modern sentimental auteurs. After starting out his career in TV, he made his first fictional film in 1995 with Maborosi, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. He burst onto the international scene with Nobody Knows, the story of four children living illegally in an apartment. He followed this up with Still Walking, a film based on his own relationship with his father. He won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival with Like Father, Like Son, which follows a businessman who finds out that his biological son was switched at birth. Kore-eda is most known, however, for his Academy Award-nominated and Palme D’or-winning film Shoplifters, about a group of criminals who form their own family of misfits.
Who's In the Cast of Broker?
The cast is a veritable who’s who of South Korean cinema. Leading the cast is Song Kang-ho. Kang-ho is most recognizable to American audiences for his work with famous Korean auteurs Bong Joon-Ho and Park Chan-Wook. He established himself as one of South Korea’s leading actors for his role in Park Chan-Wook’s Joint Security Area, a thriller based on a fictional murder that takes place in the DMZ between North and South Korea. Song was thoroughly praised for his ability to bring grace and humor to the role of a North Korean soldier. He went on to star in several films from director Bong Joon-Ho with the two most notable being Memories of Murder, a chilling true crime thriller about an uncatchable killer, and Parasite, the first non-English language film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
Starring alongside Song as Dong-soo is Gang Dong-won, who is most recognizable for his role in Peninsula, the standalone sequel to one of the most successful zombie films ever, Train to Busan. Lee Ji-eun stars as Moon So-young, a mother who decides to leave her baby at the baby box. Moon began her career as a singer under her stage name, IU. After cementing herself as Korea’s girl-next-door, she ventured into the movie business in 2011 with the teen TV show, Dream High. She garnered critical acclaim in 2018 for her role as a desperate office worker in My Mister. Starring as the police detective investigating the illegal organization is Bae Doona. Bae’s most critically acclaimed performances are in classics of the New Korean Cinema like Park Chan Wook’s Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Bong Joon Ho’s The Host. Apart from her work in South Korea, Bae has also worked with the Wachowskis on the movie Cloud Atlas and the Netflix show Sense8. Rounding out the cast is Lee Joo-Young. Lee’s most notable performances have been on Korean TV shows like Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo and Times.