The Wailing (film)

The Wailing
Directed by	Na Hong-jin
Produced by	Suh Dong-hyun Kim Ho-sung[1]
Written by	Na Hong-jin[1]
Starring	Kwak Do-Won Hwang Jung-Min Chun Woo-Hee
Music by	Jang Young-gyu[1]
Cinematography	Hong Kyung-pyo[1]
Edited by	Kim Sun-min[1]
Production company	Side Mirror, Fox International Production Korea
Distributed by	20th Century Fox Korea
Release dates	May 12, 2016 (2016-05-12)
Running time	156 minutes[1]
Country	South Korea[1]
Box office	$51.3 million[2]

The Wailing (Hangul: 곡성; Hanja: 哭聲; RR: Gokseong) is 2016 South Korean horror thriller film directed by Na Hong-jin about a policeman who teams up with a shaman and a mysterious woman to investigate mysterious killings and illnesses.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]} It was a commercial success at the box office.^[11]

Plot

The film opens with a view of a lake by a little village (Goksung) in the mountains of South Korea. A stranger is fishing by the river. The stranger, an old man who speaks Japanese, has recently arrived at the village, and he lives at a secluded house in the mountains by the village. A mysterious sickness starts spreading among the people of the village, causing violent murderous outbreaks followed by stupor and eventually death.

Police and doctors first suspect the victims were poisoned by wild mushrooms. Officer Jong-goo, who is investigating the cases, meets a mysterious young woman called Moo-myeong (“no name” in Korean), who tells him about the Japanese stranger and his involvement with the deaths. After Jong-goo confirms that she witnessed the crime, she disappears. Later, a local hunter tells Jong-goo that he saw the stranger eating an animal in the mountains, nearly naked and with his eyes glowing red. Jong-goo had dreams of the stranger earlier when he spoke with the young woman, just like the hunter had described him.

Jong-goo enlists the aid of another officer and a Japanese-speaking priest (serving as translator), and they investigate the stranger's home in the mountains. They arrive while the old man is gone, and the other officer finds pictures of the infected and murdered residents and some of their belongings. He is too shocked to say anything, and the others are unaware of his findings. The house's guard dog breaks free of its chains and attacks the priest and Jong-goo. Soon the stranger arrives and quickly pacifies the dog. The priest apologizes to the stranger, and the three leave.

During the car ride back to the village, the officer tells Jong-goo of what he saw, and gives him a shoe he found there, which belongs to Jong-goo's daughter, Hyo-jin. Hyo-jin becomes sick and displays the same symptoms as the other sick residents. Jong-goo, angry and frustrated, goes to the stranger’s house with the priest, but finds that the pictures and the evidence have been burned. Infuriated, Jong-goo destroys the stranger's worship room; his dog attacks Jong-goo but Jong-goo kills the dog, and orders the stranger to leave the village.

Distraught about Jong-goo daughter's well-being, his mother-in-law seeks help from a shaman, Il-gwang. As Il-gwang performs a ceremony to exorcise the demon, Jong-goo finds his daughter in pain and interrupts the ritual, taking his daughter to a nearby hospital instead. The following day Jong-goo assembles his friends to go hunt down the stranger, believing that the old man is responsible for the sickness and murders. They drive to the stranger's home and chase him, but he escapes. As the group leaves, they accidentally hit the stranger with their vehicle, and dispose of his body, as Moo-myeong watches from the hills.

When Jong-goo returns home, he finds that Hyo-jin's condition has seemingly improved. Il-gwang suspects they killed the wrong person and decides to investigate Jong-goo's home. He encounters Moo-myeong, and inexplicably starts vomiting blood. Il-gwang retreats and starts driving away, but eventually changes his mind and turns back towards Jong-goo's house. He calls Jong-goo, telling him that Moo-myeong is the demon and that he will get to the house as soon as possible.

Jong-goo finds Moo-myeong by his house. She asks him to believe her, telling him she had set a trap for the demon, but the trap won't work if Jong-goo goes back to his house. Confused and stressed, Jong-goo leaves to save his family, but as he crosses his home's threshold, the floral trap withers and dries up. The priest, meanwhile, investigates the mountains again. He encounters the still-alive old man in a cave and watches him turn into a demon. Jong-goo arrives at his home and finds Hyo-jin has murdered their family. He compassionately calls out to her, but she murders him and then falls into a stupor. The shaman Il-gwang arrives at Jong-goo's house, crosses past the wilted trap, and takes photographs of the victims. He returns to his car and drops a box filled with photos of the other victims before and after afflicted with the madness and plague.

As Jong-goo lies dying in his home, he sees visions of happier times with his daughter and assures her he will protect her.

Cast

• Kwak Do-won ... Jong-Goo
• Hwang Jung-min ... Il-Gwang
• Jun Kunimura ... Japanese stranger
• Chun Woo-hee ... Moo-Myeong
• Kim Hwan-hee ... Hyo-jin
• Her Jin as Mother-in-law
• Jang So-yeon as Wife
• Kim Do-yoon as Yang I-sam
• Son Kang-gook as Oh Seong-bok
• Park Seong-yeon as Kwon Myeong-joo
• Kil Chang-gyoo as Park Choon-bae
• Jeon Bae-soo as Deok-gi
• Jeong Mi-nam as Heung-gook
• Choi Gwi-hwa as Byeong-gyoo
• Baek Seung-cheol as Friend
• Kwon Hyeok-joon as Friend
• Park Chae-ik as Friend
• Kim Gi-cheon as Dispatch captain
• Yoo Soon-woong as Chief of police
• Jo Han-cheol as Detective 1
• Kim Song-il as Police
• Bae Yong-geun as Police
• Im Jae-il as Police
• Lee In-cheol as Father
• Jo Seon-joo as Bar hostess
• Lee Chang-hoon as Doctor
• Kim Ji-won as Nurse

Reception

The Wailing received widespread critical acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a "certfied fresh" 98% approval rating and a rating average score of 8.1/10, based on 41 reviews. On review aggregator website Metacritic, the film has an average rating of 81/100 based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[12] Jada Yuan of Vulture.com described the film as "operating on a level that makes most American cinema seem clunky and unimaginative".^[13]

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• The Wailing at the Internet Movie Database