So I watched Exhuma yesterday and here are my thoughts for anyone who bothers:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27802490/
There are dramas that should have been movies and then, like in case of Exhuma, there are movies who would have worked better as dramas.
Don't get me wrong, I am a sucker for East-Asian Folklore inspired themes in combination with Fantasy and Horror elements. And this movie had me intrigued right from the start. But even though it has a runtime of 134 minutes, the story teasers so many interesting aspects that once they are mentioned there's not enough time to give the viewers more context. Especially when it comes to all the main characters:
[SPOILERS AHEAD! Very detailed spoilers I warn you...]
Kim Go-Heun as Hwarim: We get short flashbacks that give us a glimpse of the time when she was still learning and they show us that as composed and professional as she is now, she struggled in the beginning. Also the fact that she comes from a shaman familyline with her grandma still being present as guardian spirit. I'd loved to know more about her grandma and the relationship she had with Hwarim. And of course I wanna know more about how Hwarim became the fierce shaman she seems to be now.
Lee Do-Hyun as Bong Gil: Yeah, Lee Do-Hyun once again showing why he is one of my favourite actors: Another standout character that he makes his own and you cannot help but root for him. But just like with Hwarim, the duration limit a movie simply has, doesn't do his character justice. Hwarim shortly teasers how Bong Gil became her protegé, that he used to have a promising future in Baseball, but ultimately chose to study shamanism, much to the disapproval of his family. So what made him choose this path? How did he meet Hwarim? We also learn that his tattoos don't just look cool, but actually have the function to protect his body from evil spirits. Was there an incident that triggered his decision to get these tattoos as they cover a large portion of his body... Also at the end of the movie when they go to the wedding of Kim Sang Doek's daugther I kinda wondered: As Hwarim mentioned that Bong Gil hasn't any contact with his family due to his career path, it must have affected him to see a happy family gathering.
Choi Min-Sik as Kim Sang Doek: For me actually the main protagonist of this movie. Oh how I loved him! He never shied away from his principals and virtues in order to fight the evil spirit. He clearly has a lot of history and wisdom (40 years he mentions) as geomancer. At the end at the wedding of his daughter you can also see that he is an emotional and loving person. To be honest, he deserves his own drama!
Yoo Hae-Jin as Ko Young Geun: For me the character with the most comic-relief potential. So he seemed to be Christian, but how does that tie into his work with geomancer Kim? How did they meet? I also loved how even though he clearly loves his money, he still stuck to not betraying the people closest to him which at times I feared.
Then there's of course the whole Park family situation and their past with cooperating with the Japanese occupators. The frame of a movie clearly doesn't give this story enough space. And the Japanese evil ghost, he was rather fascinating: We get short flashbacks that the monster used to be a human with a high range in the Japanese army, but also that he seemed to be some sort of experiment? We shortly see how he was revived in a ritual involving scientists. My guess is, that he voluntarily took part in this in order to live forever, but I still wished to get more context.
And also, the two women that join Hwarim when Bong Gil is in the hopital: Are they siblings of Hwarim? They are cearly trained in shamanism, but because they studied themselves (in case of the younger woman, she still seems to be a schoolgirl and a trainee), or because they are family? Maybe I didn't get it on my first watch, but we never find out how exactly they are related to Hwarim and Bong Gil.
CONCLUSION:
Loved it, but would have worked way better as a drama. I get it, you can't compete in a film festival with a drama, but still. Anyway, I don't know if anything is planned, but I'd love if they make it a franchise. I definitely want more!!
