Review of The Wailing (2016) by Late R — 11 Nov 2018

If you thought this was going to be a straight-forward, traditional horror flick, think again. It's fantastically acted and well-filmed creating a palpable atmosphere, but the main attraction here is always going to be the story and, specifically, the way it's told. The premise itself is nothing new, but the execution is smart, keeping you interested the whole way through, despite its impressive running time of 2 hrs. 40 mins., by challenging what you thought you'd figured out (and then re-challenging it later on). Huge props to director Hong-jin Na there. It starts off as a murder-mystery (people suddenly start dying in strange ways), complete with cop investigating, and slowly delves deeper into horror as things get increasingly bizarre and terrifying. It manages to put us, the audience, in the shoes of the protagonist where we're both experiencing the fear of not knowing what's going on or who to suspect, and not being able to stop something that you can't explain in the first place. We discover things as he does and are forced to consider what we'd do in his position, which makes for a particularly tense third act. If you're really paying attention, you start to notice the allegories and the symbolism.

So, here's one that's going to require a bit of thought and, in the end, a few things aren't entirely clear and are left up to the audience, making sure there's going to be debates left and right. For some, trying to figure things out is part of the fun and makes for captivating viewing; for others, it may be a bit too confusing. I do think there's enough scariness to keep most people interested, but either way, it's sure to get people talking.