The process of excavating an ominous grave unleashes dreadful consequences buried underneath.
If you have been watching international productions or reading my reviews, you will know that Korea has been making some of the best films and television series for decades. There are plenty of reasons why a lot of these productions succeed, but one thing is how filmmakers take popular genres like Horror or Action and subvert them in unique ways while containing intellectual themes as well as subtext. Fortunately, “Exhuma” continues that winning tradition. Starring Choi Min-sik (“Oldboy,” “Lady Vengeance”) and Kim Go-eun, along with a solid supporting cast, the two leads in particular are excellent in their respective roles.
Beginning in Los Angeles, Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) is a shaman and her apprentice Bong-gil who has been called in from Korea to help a wealthy family remove an ancient curse. A curse that has manifested into suicide and has been dramatically affecting their newborn son. Meanwhile, Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik) is a feng shui or geomancer in Korea. One who observes and investigates plots of land for superstitious rich people who wish for their dead relatives to be buried in prosperous places. He is basically a vibes inspector who works with his friend Yeong-geun, a funeral home proprietor. Although these two men profit from others’ misery, they have integrity.
There is a comment on Korea’s pivot towards Neoliberalism when Sang-deok mentions that most funeral homes now hire corporations to carry out these feng shui investigations. Upon Hwa-rim’s return from the City of Angels, she begins working with Sang-deok after enticing him with a large amount of money from Yi-jong. But after Sang-deok checks the vibes, he feels the burial plot’s sinister energy located near the North Korean border. He is reluctant to continue moving the ancestor to another “pristine plot.” On the other hand, Hwa-rim believes that if she performs a “withdrawal ritual,” there will be less chance of the curse being passed on to them or anyone else. The ritual is complex, including sacrificing five pigs with zodiacs painted on them. While drums are being played, Hwa-rim does a mesmerizing dance, thrashing around with two blades before cutting herself to draw blood. Their plan to cremate the body is thwarted by rain, which will keep the ancestor’s soul from reaching the afterlife. So, the coffin must wait at a hospital morgue. Unfortunately, a greedy man – believing the coffin contains treasures – pries open the coffin, unleashing a violent spirit.
The visuals crafted by director Jang Jae-hyun (who wrote the screenplay) and his cinematographer Lee Mo-gae (“Tale of Two Sisters,” “The Good, the Bad, the Weird,” “I Saw the Devil”) are compelling and profound. Mainly when the camera slowly turns clockwise from the patriarch to Yi-Jong and finally onto the newborn, forming the circle of life and the connective tissue of intergenerational trauma. Some Folk Horror elements recalled “The Wailing,” especially with the superstitious rituals. Jae-hyun named his main characters’ from patriotic martyrs of South Korea who fought against Japanese colonial rule – Kim Sang-deok, Ko Young-geun, Lee Hwa-rim, and Yoon Bong-gil.
Ultimately, ”Exhuma” reckons with past generations who sold out their fellow countrymen and economy to the Japanese occupation – and how these elements of fascism and exploitation are still looming over today’s people. And although digging up the past can be traumatic, if left undisturbed, the hidden horrors will materialize in one way or another.
Now available on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, and DVD
11k
19.8k
1.5k
1.8k