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The Wailing (2016)

★★★½ — The Wailing (2016)

Na Hong-jin's third feature arrived six years after his debut thriller The Chaser (2008) announced him as one of South Korea's sharpest genre voices, with the intervening The Yellow Sea (2010) confirming that reputation. The Wailing is a rural horror mystery, shot largely in the forested village of Gokseong in South Jeolla Province, and it draws loosely on Korean shamanistic tradition while folding in elements of Japanese folk horror. Fox International Productions co-financed the film alongside local partners, giving it a relatively generous budget by Korean genre standards, and it went on to gross nearly fifty million dollars worldwide, a strong return that cemented Na's international standing. At two and a half hours, it is an unusually long piece of genre filmmaking, and that ambition was broadly rewarded at the 2016 Cannes Directors' Fortnight.

Super confusing Great example of Korean horror. It was chilling, creepy, atmospheric and with really strong acting and cinematography. The plot was really fun to watch unfold but the ending is really confusing to figure out exactly what happened. It was also 2.5hrs long which is way too long for this film imo

Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 2016 | Watched: 2025-05-03

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Where to watch (UK)

Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video
Physical: Amazon UK

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