Shamans, Pungsu & the Grave: ‘Exhuma’ Is Spine-Chilling.
A supernatural horror intertwined with the Japanese occupation of Korea and the stories surrounding its brutal history.
“Do you want to play Dead Silence on Roblox?”
My friend had asked this years ago when we were both in school, leading to us playing Roblox occasionally at night over a voice call. It was a good pastime, something that lessened our fatigue and workload or probably added to it since we slowly became nocturnal creatures. But I didn’t consider this gaming platform to be serious. It was far from it, considering how it, at large, caters to young kids.
But then, I stumbled upon The Mimic, a game that put Japanese folklore and urban legends and the gore surrounding them in a different light. The traditional music accompanies the serene yet eerie atmosphere and a space that is being viewed from a first-person perspective has a hollow silence enveloping it. I remember how my avatar stood in front of a large school building and the vast night sky loomed above me as if whispering a dreadful warning through the heavy downpour. All of this was because I clicked on an unknown game and unfortunately, I was the only one on the server and that was unnerving in itself. Therefore, I left.
But soon afterward, my friend and I started playing it. Correction: She played, and I stood behind her avatar because horror games have always creeped me out, no matter what.
But this discovery prompted me to search more about folklore, myths, and urban legends. I learned about Futakuchi-onna, a supernatural entity from Japanese folklore, also known as the ‘two-mouthed woman’, who has a second mouth in the back of her head that displays an insatiable hunger and sometimes speaks independently.
I love it when horror as a genre delves into folklore, legends and history. And that’s how Exhuma became one of my favourite South Korean movies of 2024.
Exhumation is the process of digging up something that’d been buried earlier, specifically a corpse. Politicians, officials, celebrities, and even common people in South Korea believe that relocating the graves of their ancestors is auspicious and enables good luck, putting the deceased at peace. But what happens when excavating the ominous grave of a political figure leads to a series of deaths and long-protected secrets dating back to the Japanese occupation of Korea?
Exhuma, directed by Jang Jae-Hyun and starring Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hai-Jin, and Lee Do-hyun, is brilliantly crafted and provides a visceral cinematic experience. With its distinct, dark, and hair-raising narrative told in two parts, it sets a trap for the audience by introducing a perceptible story at first before transforming into entirely something else, bringing with it unexpected twists and a blood-curdling entity in the second part.
The movie centres around themes of occult, shamanism and geomancy. These key aspects, along with the portrayal of characters, strengthen the plot.
The blend of shamanism and geomancy weaves the ethos of Exhuma:
- Korean Shamanism
Korean Shamanism and its depiction are one of the enthralling aspects of the movie. The shamanic rituals herald the ominous entry of sinister entities, giving the audience an uncertain sense of apprehension.
As the primitive and native polytheistic religion of Korea, Korean shamanism has intrigued audiences from all around the globe, distinct from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. It revolves around deities and ancestral spirits, and a mudang, primarily a woman, serves as a mediator between a human and the supernatural world, determining the reason behind their misfortune and providing ways to appease the spirit that causes them anguish.
A famous shaman, Hwa-rim, played by Kim Go-eun, and her protégé, Bong-gil, played by Lee Do-hyun, are approached by a wealthy Korean American man, asking them to investigate the cause behind his infant’s deteriorating health. After a critical observation, Hwa-rim concludes that his grandfather’s spirit is in anguish and has been enraged for a long time due to the location of his grave. As issues regarding the relocation of the grave arise, Hwa-rim and Bong-gil team up with Kim Sang-deok, played by Choi Min-sik, and Young-geum, played by Yoo Hai-jin, and decide to split the hefty amount awaiting the success of their task.
But what first seems like a usual assignment takes a brutal turn when they realise the puzzling labyrinth they’ve been forced into, where the success rate more or less demands bloodshed.
As the completely immersed Hwa-rim smears her face with pig’s blood during the Daesalgut ritual, the chilling sounds of drums and chants echo in the background. Kudos to the portrayal of the character by Kim Go-eun; they’d actual shamans stand by.
The unnerving shamanic rituals orchestrated by Hwa-rim, with the assistance of Bong-gil, create a raw, animalistic and gory atmosphere.
- PUNGSU-JIRI-SEOL (KOREAN GEOMANCY)
Pungsu, the Korean version of China’s feng shui, refers to the theory of divination based on topography. It’s believed that ideal and auspicious sites are the ones where there is a harmonious balance of natural counterparts such as heaven and earth, fire and water, north and south, and east and west. Read more on Pungsu, the Art of Korean Geomancy.
Feng shui, which originated in China thousands of years ago, was passed down to the rest of East Asia, including Korea and Japan.
Citing the research article from Energy Research and Social Science, pungsu emerged from the desire and wisdom of ancient people to be safe from the natural disasters that threatened their survival, most notably typhoons and floods.
Kim Sang-deok, a veteran genius geomancer, unearths the secrets that add to the mystery and suspense of the movie, along with Young-geum, a Christian mortician. The duo’s heartwarming friendship and their meticulous approach to cases are a delight to watch. Kim Sang-deok remains skeptical about Hwa-rim’s shamanic abilities, taking a negative stance when questioned about their effectiveness and authenticity. Their differences only urge them to part ways and work separately, but when faced with a foreboding threat, they’ve no choice but to strive for clues together.
The movie also explores generational trauma and the deep-rooted resentment of the Japanese colonial power that ruled over Korea from 1910 to 1945, emphasising the stories where they allegedly tried to destroy the natural flow of pungsu in an attempt to diminish the nationalist spirit of Korea.
The fast-paced narrative and the menacing atmosphere both unsettle as well as overwhelm the mood of the characters. After a petrifying encounter with the entity, they realise the consequences of their actions and the impending destruction that will befall them if they don’t act hastily.
Exhuma brings forth a unique perspective on the cultural, traditional and historical landscape of Korean society.
South Korean horror movies capture the psychological fear and internal conflict of characters more than just the external intervention of demonic entities and reliance on jump scares and gore.
Exhuma, as a movie, establishes the crucial connection between the art of storytelling and cinematography.
