Movie Review ~ Exhuma

I know the summer temperatures are heating up, but are you ready for your bones to be chilled?  If you dare, unearth Exhuma, a South Korean box office smash that has already raked in $97 million dollars since it premiered in its home country in February.  Director Jang Jae-hyun’s supernatural horror film went on to play in Hong Kong and India before its upcoming debut on Shudder, giving U.S. audiences time to prepare their scare and get ready to be terrified.  The wait was worth it.  

Delving into the haunting consequences of disturbing the restless dead echoes the exposure of Korea’s turbulent past under Japanese occupation.  As characters wrestle with vengeful spirits representing historical wounds, the film’s unflinching portrayal of injustices has earned it praise and condemnation.  The discourse has only added to its popularity around the world, and while I’m not sure an American audience will take the time to dig as deep as those who were directly affected, when it comes right down to it, this tale of curses, vengeful ancestors, and ancient rituals is a superbly made fright factory.

Structured into distinct chapters, Exhuma unfolds over 134 minutes with a deliberate pace and calculated precision.  Each chapter peels back another layer of mystery that begins when a renowned shaman, Lee Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun), is called in by Park Ji-Yong (Kim Jae-cheol), the head of a wealthy family in Seoul, to find out why his newborn son remains mysteriously ill.  Aided by her apprentice Yoon Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun), her investigation discovers a Grave’s Call, an ancient curse linked to a bitter relatives spirit that continues to haunt the family. 

Drawing viewers deeper into its strange world, the film moves to Hwa-rim looping in geomancer (feng-shui) Kim Sang-deo (Choi Min-sik) and small-town mortician Yeong-geun (Yoo Hae-jin) to relocate the grave of the troublemaking spirit.  Their quest to put one spirit to rest unleashes a far greater evil, triggering a series of events that threaten to annihilate them all.  As the bodies begin to pile up, the world of the grave movers spirals into chaos, resulting in more digging for answers they aren’t going to want to know the answers to.  Knowing the truth is the only way to combat this malevolent force, and before it can become more powerful than they can handle, the four must work together to bury it deeper than before.

A titan of South Korean cinema, Choi Min-sik (I Saw the Devil) will forever be associated with his iconic role in the original Oldboy from 2003.  That unforgettable film and performance have been followed up with more stellar roles, and he can add his turn in Exhuma to his distinguished credits.  It may not be as complex as his other work, but it’s compelling and captivating, with his celebrated brand of wisdom and wariness bolstering his character’s eerie intuition.  A believer in tradition and ritual, he’s not about to let a distressed spirit wreak havoc without doing everything he can to stop it.

His performance is a nice counterbalance to the younger cast members, not that they aren’t fully delivering memorably as well.  Kim Go-eun is a real find, shining as the instinctual shaman and shattering our conventional idea of what this role should look like.  She’s grounded and otherworldly at the same time, giving off the same electrifying intensity of Tangina in Poltergeist but having the nuanced resonance of Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring. 

Largely sidestepping abundant CGI for practical effects, having tangible horrors to combat provides visceral scares that are incredibly chilling.  It’s a way for Jae-hyun to pay homage to traditional horror filmmaking while still being true to the modern movie he’s written.  Having the actors study the actual rituals of shamans lends additional authenticity to the sequences where a spirit is either called forth or meant to be sent back to where it came from.  It could have been hokey in the hands of another director or actor, but there’s a seriousness to it that believably raises the stakes and lets the terror rise organically.

A gripping, unpredictable entry in the supernatural horror genre, Exhuma is a bonafide standout in a year already earning high marks for horror.  Drenched in South Korean culture and ritual, it’s a movie that not only scares but explores the scars of history through its clever storytelling.  Captivating performances and masterful technical execution make it a must-watch for horror fans and audiences seeking sophistication in their screams.