[HanCinema's Film Review] "Exhuma"

Sang-deok (played by Choi Min-sik) is a veteran geomancer who specializes in shamanistic rituals. He accepts a high-priced job from Ji-yong (played by Kim Jae-chul), who claims that his family has long had trouble keeping its firstborn children alive due to malicious ancestral spirits, even all the way in Los Angeles. Sang-deok concludes that the likely problem is an improperly buried grandfather- but is reluctant to take on the job when he notices foxes ominously hanging around the gravesite.

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In 2015, writer/director Jang Jae-hyeon made "The Priests" which was a fairly straightforward occult mystery. Then in 2019 he made "Svaha: The Sixth Finger" which was a very convoluted one. With "Exhuma" he appears to have hit the perfect middle ground- the stakes in "Exhuma" are quite straightforward, and the mystery compelling. But there's always unknown creepiness lurking in the background of each of the six acts- most obviously with an unexpectedly frightening snake.

Sang-deok himself isn't a very dynamic lead but he does manage to be an oddly compelling one. What drives him to solve the cursed land problem once and for all is his sense of grandfatherly responsibility- the realization that shamans of past generations did not solve the problem like they should have. No core cast member is exceptional in their role, yet they all effectively communicate that their work is an obligational point of pride, and should have a purpose beyond earning money alone.

"Exhuma" also does a really good job emphasizing that all of our characters are a part of the modern world, despite their work in shamanism, and see no conflict in their responsibilties. To the contrary, Sang-deok actually has a fairly compelling explanation for how his own work and that of his daughter, an aerospace engineer, aren't really all that different. The priestess Hwa-rim (played by Kim Go-eun) and priest Bong-gil (played by Lee Do-hyun) likewise live fairly normal lives. At one point we see them together at the gym.

Incidentally, if Lee Do-hyun wanted a role to play against his usual type, he selected excellently in regard to this project. He's hardly even recognizable as a heavily tattooed, long-haired monk, and never comes close to upstaging his co-stars in the heroism category despite...well...I'm reluctant to get too deep into that because "Exhuma" has some exceptionally compelling plot twists. No one's really hiding anything, even- the past is just buried that much deeper than anyone realizes.

More than anything else, though, "Exhuma" works so well because it's so sincere. The malicious spirits we see are genuinely menacing and dangerous, Rough Thing in particular being a special effects marvel that embodies the feel of a bygone era in a way that really emphasizes that it has no business being in Korea at all. "Exhuma" has plenty of subtle, tense scares throughout too, from the phone call scene to the pig butchery, with dry, practical, mercantile humor to boot. It's still early in the year, but "Exhuma" is already the frontrunner for South Korea's best film.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Exhuma" is directed by Jang Jae-hyeon, and features Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin, Lee Do-hyun, Kim Min-jun, Hong Seo-jun. Release date in Korea: 2024/02/22.