Korean cinema has always been at the top of the list for compelling personal drama. From OLDBOY to I SAW THE DEVIL, the country has never been short of telling Hollywood how it should be done and in 2017 come another entry from the country that knows better.

 

THE WAILING holds no bars when it comes to sharing stone cold chills with a wildly magnificent tale. Amidst a plague of deaths in his village, bumbling detective Jong-Goo (Do-won Kwak) and partner Il-Gwang (Jung-min Hwang) soon learn that the presence of a reclusive tourist may be at the centre of it all, especially when Jong-Goo’s daughter becomes possessed.

 

A race against time to save her soul puts the two against a wild journey of the truth behind the tourist’s visit and links to the villagers strange deaths.

 

At over two and a half hours long, THE WAILING doesn’t even feel at half that length of which is a testament of just how gripping this movie is. Director Hong-jin Na manages to weave in plenty of eastern mythology in a fresh perspective, from an exorcism with a dancing colourful exorcist, and I mean that literally, to the appearance of the Devil himself, everything here is magnificent on a grand scale yet executed in such precision that it never feels otherworldly.

 

Much of which goes to the credit of the two leads who’s bumbling laddish behaviour grows to become fearful and grounded across the duration of the movie and its central events. Jong-Goo’s drive to save his daughter is mesmerising to watch and as each piece of the jigsaw comes together, it takes until the very last frames to see the bigger picture.

 

Blending genres of exorcism, zombies and ghosts amongst the more personal tribulations of its central cast. A feat that could have gone awry but is nothing short of a terrifyingly magical experience. THE WAILING is not just the best international film of 2017 but a sure-fire contender for the greatest horror movie of the year.