Exhuma

While Western exorcist flicks bow to the imagery of Catholic concepts of sin, in Asia the genre gets approached from a polytheistic perspective. Exhuma by Jang Jae-hyun throws open the gates to the borderlands between different beliefs and realities, where a priest’s blessing makes little difference. South Korean exorcists appease spirits by digging up graves and moving the corpses to new grounds. Plan B: burn the remains to permanently destroy the spirit.

When a spirit starts to torment its living relatives, the cause often lies in past wrongs and grievances. An unusual chain of events is kicked off in Los Angeles, where a baby just born into a powerful family suffers the malice of an ancestor buried on the border between the Koreas one hundred years ago. Young exorcist Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) smells an exceptional challenge, and recruits the assistance of seasoned colleague Kim Sang-deok (Oldboy’s Choi Min-sik). Exhuma is a work of slowly simmering horror, in which the supernatural blends in with everyday challenges and societal themes. In Jang Jae-hyun’s complex film, spirits are not banished through violence, but through reparation. But it is not without its kick: Exhuma is like an arthouse drama that sometimes bares its teeth.

Matti Rämö (translated by Adrian Murtomäki)