Director: Jang Jae-hyun
Starring: Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin, Lee Do-hyun
Country of Origin: South Korea
Running time: 2h 14m
Be careful what you dig up, it may come back to haunt you.
The remains of an ancestral grave hold the key to a generational curse which bedevils an affluent Korean American family.
The journey to the nameless tomb in Gangwon province, near the border with North Korea, brings together a shaman and her disciple, an experienced feng shui expert and undertaker to investigate the burial site.
None of the quartet are prepared for what lurks beneath the surface.
A mysterious and foreboding tone is established from the outset as young shaman Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and her protégé Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun) travel from Seoul to Los Angeles.
They meet Park Ji-yong (Kim Jae-cheol), the head of a rich family conglomerate, whose newborn son has been struck down by a strange affliction.
Hwa-rim determines that the illness emanates from the resting place of Park’s grandfather located in a remote part of South Korea.
She discerns that the descendant’s spirit is responsible for tormenting every branch of the family tree and joins forces with veteran geomancer Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik) and mortician Yeong-geun (Yoo Hae-jin) to excavate and move the remains of the grave.
It’s a life-and-death undertaking as despite his reservations Sang-deok allows Hwa-rim to perform a shamanistic ritual in an attempt to lift the uncanny hex.
What they uncover brings to light chilling revelations which trace back to Japan’s occupation of Korea.
Broken into six chapters, an uneasy sense of dread unfolds as the possibility of a terrifying expose gradually materializes.
Just when one part of the story slams shut like a coffin lid another macabre strand develops.
Rather than rely on gruesome and gory shocks (although there are some grisly moments) it’s the feeling of spine-tingling apprehension which resonates.
While Exhuma probably won’t appeal to those of a squeamish disposition, writer and director Jang Jae-hyun manages to prolong the sense of trepidation as the truth emerges from underground.
There’s a real fear of what’s coming next as Jang takes us deep into an otherworldly realm of disgruntled spirits and disillusioned souls.
Binding together the ancient and the present, a magnificent cast makes the unimaginable somehow seem plausible as the story swerves off into unexplainable ground.
The most striking scene of the entire film comes as the luminous Kim Go-eun performs a fevered, hypnotizing shamanic ritual, complete with banging drums and sacrificial pigs, at the tomb on top of the mountain. Although the ceremony is bereft of subtitles (which might have added extra context) it takes nothing away from an actress utterly committed to an extremely demanding role. Kim (pictured below) delivers spectacularly as Hwa-rim in a marvellous performance alongside one of the greats of South Korean cinema.
Choi Min-sik, star of the unforgettable Oldboy (2003), plays Sang-deok as a weary, unflinching interpreter of the supernatural. The multifaceted Choi effortlessly embraces every aspect of a complicated character. He tastes the soil at the grave site and wants nothing to do with it. Yeong-geun (the excellent Yoo Hae-jin) convinces the geomancer of 40 years that the financial rewards of the relocation outweigh the potential hazards.
Choi also acts as a guide of sorts as we share Sang-deok’s hesitation and panic as things rapidly head south. Strong support comes from Lee Do-hyun as the shaman in training and Kim Sun-young as a senior shaman called in at a time of crisis.
The mountainside and the creatures that inhabit it also act as characters as we await the horrors that arise from the darkness.
It’s only deep down in the soil that secrets are exposed in an unnerving tale with its roots firmly entrenched in the past.
Stephen Kasiewicz 