[Review] Exhuma (9/10)

 

Title - Exhuma
Production - MCMC, Pinetown Production, Showbox Entertainment
Starring - Kim Go Eun, Choi Min Sik, Lee Do Hyun, Yoo Hae Jin, Kim Jae Chul, Park Jeong Ja, Kim Ji An, Kim Sun Young
Writer - Jang Jae Hyun
Director - Jang Jae Hyun
Release - 14 March 2024

Every half an hour I kept asking myself, "Why is this movie so good".

Everything about the movie, from the cinematography to the edits to the score and the acting, everything was on point. The mood was consistent throughout, a sense of foreboding and bleakness that stayed in the background from start to finish.

Jang Jae Hyun's direction was key, and the way the movie cut together was excellent. 

At first when the movie started, I was questioning why use such young actors like Kim Go Eun and Lee Do Hyun. Usually roles like these were more grounded with older characters. But once the process for the first exhumation started, and when the pair of actors went into action, I was sold. Not just sold, I was fully behind their characters; especially with how Kim danced through the ritual, the editing made the whole thing captivating.

And the story did not relent. Chapter after chapter, things kept getting worse. Even when the story was simple and straight forward, but there was the thrill and mystery that as an audience member I couldn't wait to find out what's next.

The only thing that kind of broke the mystery was actually seeing the spirit. But I get it that this was the only way that could be done. 

There's a great cast here. It's good to see Choi Min Sik again after so long (this is on me since I don't follow his career at all). And I just saw Yoo Hae Jin in The Night Owl. He has such a non-leading man face that I never thought he was going to be in the whole movie at first. But I was pleasantly proven wrong.

And a late introduction to two new characters which happened during the "goblin" sequence, and I enjoyed all of their performances.