![]() That’s not to say it isn’t scary because it’s so terrifying that I had to look away from the screen several times (the usher was no longer around). For a movie that’s been primarily subtle about its scares, the last Act is, in a word, excessive. The film’s grand finale does go a little overboard, however, as it goes into full-on The Ring-Ju-on-Shutter horror mode. It’s disconcerting and subtly wears you down for the terror that is about to follow. Mink goes into fits of violence while on a celebratory parade, and when she goes missing, the villagers search for her desperately as a beautiful tapestry of fireworks go off in the sky. (Image credit: Golden Village Pictures)īut even before the more blatant frights, The Medium manages to unbalance and unseat you with skilful juxtapositions of the supernatural and the ordinary. Noi (Sirani Yankittikan) and Mink (Narilya Gulmongkolpech). On the third, I was all packed up and ready to leave. The cameras capture Mink first under the stairs and then hovering over her mother as if ready for a lip-smackingly tasty midnight snack. If I were to point out the eeriest parts of this movie, the six documented nights leading up to Mink’s spiritual cleansing would easily fit the bill.Įvery second that the screen is lit by the characteristic green glow of a night vision camera becomes an exercise in unhinged terror. Tsk tsk.Īs with all such documentary-style horror movies, there are scenes in The Medium when the night vision mode in the camera is turned on, and others that capture the perspective of CCTVs installed in the victim’s house. For the avoidance of all doubt, I was wearing my mask properly, but the folk three rows in front of me weren’t. It was foreboding enough that when the usher suddenly popped up to do mask checks in the cinema (good on you, Golden Village!), I let out a soft shriek. The camera lingers shakily on the characters’ backs, making us wonder what is happening to them as we slowly inch towards yet another victim. As more victims get possessed, the film builds to a terrifying crescendo-all without ever showing us what exactly is possessing all these people. Thanks to the handheld camera, we don’t always get a clear shot of what she’s doing, creating this sense of helplessness. Once the movie goes into full swing, however, Mink’s possessions are violent, gory, and unnerving. Even the director noted the similarities between the shamanistic practices in Asian countries, showing how ingrained this is in Asian culture. Unlike Western horror films, where the supernatural lives in its own discrete realm, the tacit understanding in The Medium that we live in a world of unseen spirits makes it all the more relatable-and terrifying when the scares hit. With The Medium, horror exists in the small things-a quiet invocation here, a superstitious nod there. Here’s when Mink starts exhibiting classic tell-tale signs of becoming the next shaman of Ba Yan and is also where things start going horribly wrong for the family. But all that is upturned when she has to return home and help her sister Noi (Sirani Yankittikan) and niece Mink (Narilya Gulmongkolpech).Īnd yes, there is family drama (is there really any better type?) when the family’s legacy is unearthed concerning the inheritance of Ba Yan’s shamans. Foreign films are our only window to travel during this pandemic, so even if it were indeed a documentary about the shamanistic practices of the rural areas of Thailand, it would still be an effective one.įor all accounts and purposes, Nim leads a fairly idyllic life, albeit one filled with mysticism and rituals. The travel documentary aspect of the film lulls you into a false sense of security as you experience what life is like for the villagers and Nim. The Medium begins fairly innocuously (as much as a horror movie can) as a film crew documents the everyday life of Nim (Sawanee Utoomma), a shaman of the goddess Ba Yan. I do advice viewers inflicted with chronic vertigo or migraine to exercise due caution-some of the camera shots can get incredibly janky. That’s the recipe for Thai-Korean horror film The Medium, directed by Shutter’s Banjong Pisanthanakun and produced by The Wailing’s Na Hong-jin.įramed as a documentary about shamanistic practices in northern Thailand’s Isan area, The Medium employs a fly-on-the-wall shooting style to lend a sense of authenticity to the events depicted, which further intensifies the horror and terror of the movie. ![]() Show the viewers the eerie movements and uncanny contortions of possessed victims, litter scenes with macabre objects and animal corpses, and linger on shots that show how an everyday item is a little, well, off. Horror works best when it’s left up to the imagination. This review contains spoilers for ’The Medium’.
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