Netflix Horror Movie Goes Beyond Disturbing Within The First Few Minutes
Psychological horrors are all well and good, but sometimes you need something that disturbs you immediately, and leaves you feeling disquieted long after the film is over. If that’s what you’re looking for, the Korean “zombie” movie, The Wailing, is just the film. It keeps you guessing every step of the way with its complicated storyline.
Heats Up Quickly And Never Lets Up
The Wailing focuses on a policeman, Officer Jong-goo (Kwak Do-won), in a remote village in Korea. Shortly after a strange Japanese man enters the village, some strange infection breaks out in the area, leaving villagers who contract it deranged and murderous. Many end up killing their families in a fit of rage.
Jong-goo’s daughter, Hyo-jin (Kim Hwan-hee) ends up becoming one of the infected in The Wailing. Growing desperate, Jong-goo starts to target the Japanese man (Jun Kunimura) after a local hunter and the mysterious Moo-myeong (Chun Woo-hee) tell him about some of the man’s strange behaviors.
Working with a deacon, Yang I-sam (Kim Do-yoon), and a shaman, Il-gwang (Hwang Jung-min), Jong-goo works hard to save his daughter and stop evil from taking over his village, if only he could find out how.
A Certified Fresh Horror Outing
The original name of The Wailing is Gokseong in Korean. Those who watched the film might have noticed that this is the name of the village. However, in Korean, the word also means “wail.”
Both commercially and critically, The Wailing was considered a success. On Rotten Tomatoes, critics gave the movie an impressive average score of 99 percent. Audience members enjoyed the movie as well, giving it an 81 percent.
Na Hong-jin’s Past And Future Work
Na Hong-jin was both the writer and director for The Wailing, which was his third feature film. He has done a few other impressive movies as well, including The Chaser, The Medium, and The Yellow Sea.
Na Hong-jin is also the writer for another film coming out in the future called Hope. It has a similar premise to The Wailing: “A mysterious discovery is made on the outskirts of the remote harbor town. The residents find themselves in a desperate fight for survival against something they have never encountered before.”
With the plot sounding so similar, it will be interesting to see how the director spins his new film to make it different from The Wailing. With no official release date yet, though, fans of this director may have to wait for further developments.
Open To Interpretation
The Wailing is full of twists and turns as you go along with Jong-goo to learn who the real villain is. The twists sometimes make for a confusing story that not all audience members will be able to follow along with. Still, those who managed to follow along, or understood all of the twists later, found the story interesting and detailed, with some parts left open so viewers could decide for themselves what happened.
A Cut Above Your Average Zombie Movie
Most interestingly, The Wailing appears to be a zombie movie right off the bat, setting it up for undead creatures. However, as viewers continue watching, they realize that isn’t quite right, and that there’s much more going on under the surface. It covers several different genres of stories but focuses heavily on Christian themes, such as demons and angels.
If you want to watch this disturbing movie for yourself, The Wailing is available on Netflix for anyone who has a subscription. For those always on the hunt for new horror movies, this movie did so well that it was included in Letterboxd’s top 250 horror films.
