(Movie Review) 'Samakdo': ambitious premise, uneven delivery

▲ A still from "Samakdo," provided by The Contents On, features investigative journalism producer Chae So-yeon, portrayed by Jo Yun-seo. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ A still from "Samakdo" is seen in this image provided by The Contents On. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ A poster for "Samakdo" is seen in this image provided by The Contents On. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(Movie Review) Samakdo

(Movie Review) 'Samakdo': ambitious premise, uneven delivery

By Woo Jae-yeon

SEOUL, March 11 (Yonhap) -- The Korean occult thriller "Samakdo" sends chills down the viewers' spines in a number of ways.

More than anything, it eerily depicts how a cult religion takes total control of people's minds, sowing the seeds of blind, dogmatic faith.

Secondly, the movie's setting -- an ordinary small village nestled in the countryside where a handful of innocent-looking residents tend their lands -- is so unremarkable that the events unfolding there become, ironically, all the more plausible and unsettling.

After all, news coverage of the damage cults inflict is nothing new, and those ensnared by them are not some extremists, but they can easily be neighbors, coworkers and friends.

Directed by Chae Ki-jun, the film centers on Samseondo, a dangerous cult that takes root in Japan before spreading its influence to South Korea under Japanese colonial rule.

Investigative journalism producer Chae So-yeon (Jo Yun-seo) is drawn into the story about the pseudo-religion, when Japanese TV reporter Mr. Matsuda (Kwak Si-yang) tips her off that the cult, thought to have long since vanished in Japan, is still being actively, and secretly, practiced among the people of a small rural community.

Mr. Matsuda urges So-yeon to accompany him to the village to verify his claims firsthand. He believes a ritual, carried out by Japanese shamans, is about to take place -- a secretive ceremony aimed at stopping an ominous prophecy from becoming reality.

With her own unresolved history with a cult -- one that has followed her since childhood, So-yeon finds she cannot turn the offer down and embarks on a dangerous journey.

"Samakdo" ticks many of the boxes that define great Korean occult cinema, including "The Wailing" and, most recently, "Exhuma," which have woven folk terror into something viscerally unforgettable.

Yet for all its fresh subject matter and wild cinematic imagination, the film does not quite live up to the ambition of its own premise. The performances from the cast are uneven at times, and the film's ending, bold and twisted as it may be, risks frustrating some viewers.

Still, what distinguishes it from its peers is history itself. Given the sweeping influence Japan exerted over Korea during the 1910-1945 colonial rule, the notion that such a cult could have taken root on Korean soil feels entirely plausible. And it is that plausibility that makes it truly frightening.

"Samakdo" hit domestic theaters Wednesday.

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