The Wailing

I think Koreans and Japanese have established that horror films are one of the genres they love to mess with (I mean that as a compliment). They could make anything—seriously, any thing you can possibly think of—an object of fear, and turn it into a scary movie. I've seen a few of them, and I've seen some of the most ridiculous stories they've come up with, and most of them are surprisingly good. So, it's no news that this one got me curious.

The Wailing (2016)
A film by Na Hong-jin

Quiet town Gokseong is disturbed by a series of unexplained brutal murders.



The Wailing, like many other films in the genre, relentlessly toyed with the minds of the audience from start to finish. The story, despite repeatedly pointing fingers at the right direction, posed more questions than clarity. It was ambitious, but at times, made it difficult to suspend disbelief. Dark humor was appreciated. But the extreme absurdity of some actions of the hero resulted to an even more questionable, and comical turn. Jong-gu (Kwak Do-won) was a ridiculously lousy police officer, but he gained sympathy when his daughter Hyo-jin (Kim Hwan-hee) got sick for some obscure reason. From then on, his actions were only triggered by anger or vengeance that paved way for too many unnecessary scenes; making the film much longer than it should have been.

After a good solid hour, the viewers might appear as exhausted and as clueless as Jong-gu (given the narrative's slow pace). But with the reiteration of its true identity—a demonic possession kind of horror film—the next few events started to give more concrete developments. Nothing rational, though (since such genres are gateways to out-of-this-world scenarios that viewers are expected to overlook). Still, it successfully kept  the viewers perplexed; without doing damage on its final reveal. Also, the ending appeared as frightening as the introduction promised it to be. Even the jump cuts used in the beginning (to foreshadow the main antagonist) did not make the ending less creepy. Its grip would scare you despite knowing that it's coming.

In 156 minutes, The Wailing definitely took a long time to build up the twist. But the absence of cheap thrills were replaced with enough gore, mystery, and consistent eerie atmosphere. The first hour might be a struggle. But its dark, chilling, and haunting moments were definitely entertaining.