4/10
A sluggish paced and tedious affair of a film…
Right, properly granted I am no longer nicely-traversed in the Thai folklore with shaman and possessions, so I changed into rather at a loss here with this movie. But it being a Thai horror film that I hadn’t already visible, then of direction I jumped on the hazard to sit down and watch it here in 2022.
I wasn’t having any expectations at all to writers Chantavit Dhanasevi, Na Hong-jin, Banjong Pisanthanakun or Siwawut Sewatanon. So the slate turned into clean and they had all the opportunities to impress me with “The Medium”.
First of all, I became in no way inspired through the documentary-fashion sort of filming that they opted for on this film. I suggest, a shaky digital camera this is all over the vicinity, just does not cut it for me. When I sit down to watch a film, I need proper cinematography and no longer something I may want to have filmed myself with my very own virtual digital camera. And then the pacing of the storyline changed into simply atrociously slow paced, which suffocated the fun proper out of the movie.
Running at over 2 hours long, “The Medium” is a slow and monotonous affair to get thru, particularly since it takes director Banjong Pisanthanakun for all time to set the stage and build up the environment. And by the point the stage is ready, then I was basically geared up to disembark the film. You need to move properly into greater than 1/2 of the run time before things begin to pick out up, and via then it it simply too little, too late. And the final 15 or 20 minutes of the movie become just utter rubbish.
It have to be said that “The Medium” actually have some accurate and stable appearing performances with the aid of the cast ensemble, but specially Narilya Gulmongkolpech (gambling Mink) and Sawanee Utoomma (gambling Nim) stands proud with their performances.
For a horror movie, then the movie was frightfully without anything horrifying. Perhaps being a existence-lengthy fan of horror have hardened and seasoned me, because I didn’t find anything horrifying approximately “The Medium”. Well, other than the slow pacing of the story. I assume you need to be a Thai or have understanding of the Thai superstitions to locate something horrifying right here.
If you enjoy Thai horror movies, then “The Medium” isn’t always a film I would advocate you waste 130 mins on watching. It just absolutely does not reduce it.
My score of “The Medium” lands on a very beneficiant four out of ten stars.
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7/10
A Thai-South Korean horror movie? Let’s do that!
This film starts with a documentary being filmed within the northeast part of Thailand to show what takes place within the life of a neighborhood medium named Nim. She’s possessed via the god Bayan and simply the brand new in a long line of ladies in her family who have given their existence over to this deity.
Yet because the film keeps, her daughter provides herself as perhaps the next in line, however it seems that the spirits that want to go into her body are something…else. I suggest, while you cook and devour the circle of relatives dog, possibly you are not the shaman as a way to defend your village, ?
What I actually cherished about this film turned into that it is going from found footage – anticipated – to some thing quite sudden, a film that transcends where others were earlier than.
Banjong Pisanthanakun also made Shutter (which changed into remade in English in 2008 by Masayuki Ochiai, in addition to in Tamil as Sivi and in Hindi as Click) and producer and author Na Hong-Jin made the serial killer movie The Chaser. That method that this has a pedigree and why it won fine feature film for the duration of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.
You can check this out on Shudder. Its got a two hour plus run time, however it is worth the time and effort, as the located footage style permits you to look a subculture that might in any other case continue to be alien to us.
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10/10
One of the finest films within the genre
Followed by way of a film crew, the psychic medium of a far flung phase of Thailand being documented uncovers enough proof to realise her niece is the target of a supernatural attack and tries to store her, but because it keeps reveals herself faced by means of a darker and greater malicious spirit than she predicted.
While there’s quite loads to like, this one does come off as barely disappointing. Where it’s miles exceptional is the setup, presenting the type of actual-global grounding required for a story like this one. Since the preliminary creation here is on her competencies and spiritual connection to the Gods of the vicinity and how she treats those who need it, there may be a remarkable information of how robust her connection to that realm is. By information that connection this simply, the later attention on the circle of relatives individuals who’re abruptly coming underneath assault by means of the various supernatural maladies on the daughter comes into extra attention, from the behavioral shifts starting from unexpected quietness to overtly flirtatious and outgoing, protective attitudes about strangely impersonal objects and the discomfort felt across the family. Given that every one of this is shot like a found-footage attempt by the documentary team following Nim the psychic brings a real-world technique it really is now not oversensationalized or grandiose which helps the movie incredibly. Once the setup is in area, the film offers a whole lot of a laugh with the belief that she has to use her powers to help the possessed daughter. Having accumulated a chain of clues now not simply from those behavioral adjustments and outbursts but additionally lots greater within the wake of how we are advised they came together main to that conclusion, the tension and movement ramp up significantly as her condition has been found out and the outbursts flip violent together with the bathe assault or the beatdown with the video digicam at some point of a ritual ceremony leading to a far more severe and suspenseful 2d half of. The attempts at using her very own powers as a means of controlling and identifying what is going on have a first-rate localized aptitude that entails several rituals and the realization that they have been deceived all alongside, the race to discover the reality about what’s possessing the daughter and free her from its grasp effects in some captivating ritualistic paintings. The very last exorcism itself, a huge outpouring of darkish magic rituals and ceremonial arrangements that take place in several satisfactory situations all through here, are chilling and incredibly shocking to witness, making for a tremendously effective and fun effort. While there’s a lot to like, this one does fall brief relatively. Most of them come within the shape of a very complex story that attempts to do greater than it ought to. While the early consciousness is on grounding the life of absolutely everyone inside the area in order that the phobia is that rather more palpable, matters progress beyond an apparent point that something have to be carried out quite early and frequently. Several times with encounters at her paintings, numerous weird movies displaying how she interacts with others within the network and all of the socially distant behavior around the circle of relatives are greater than enough to suspect something has long past incorrect, however, it takes till the physical attacks at the family to even confront her approximately something going incorrect. From there, the revelation about the former boyfriend who died recently haunting her that turns into a crimson herring for the ancestral curse being the reason of the ownership is not sensible. This clarification comes manner too overdue within the movie to intend whatever and not using a build-up following the proof we have accumulated up to now, leading to too many plot factors and storylines to maintain tune of than what need to be the case. Likewise, there’s also the minor issue of this being simply a bit too long, jogging on approximately ten-to-fifteen minutes longer than vital with cramming too much into it or jogging past its usefulness in either the drama setup or its horror setpieces. While it all adds to the phobia experienced, a number of it is not essential and will’ve been taken out, but past that, there is now not much to dislike right here.
Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Nudity, Language, and a intercourse scene.
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The Scariest Horror Film Of 2021