I recently rewatched “Psycho,” Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller about a mother-son bond that results in the son’s psychological obliteration, with his long-dead mother’s personality replacing his own.
That sort of merger, minus the Hitchcockian horror, is also the theme of Tatsushi Ohmori’s ”Mother,” whose single mom, Akiko (Masami Nagasawa), neglects and abuses her son, Shuhei, but has an unbreakable hold on him.
Based on an actual incident that occurred in 2014, the film focuses on the history of Akiko and Shuhei’s bond — that is, the part “Psycho” leaves out.