‘The Guest’…A heady concoction of horror, gore, and mystery, that is both clever writing and a poignant tale.

Spoilers ahead…

In The Guest, evil spirits feed off on people’s fear, jealousy, despair, and hate. So, a broken heart, a slight bit of resentment towards someone or low self-esteem can lure these unearthly beings. This modest addition to why the characters get possessed goes a long way, in what could have been, just watching a random bunch of people getting influenced by these evil spirits.

There is Choi Min Sang (Lee Joong Ok), who was physically abused as a child, by his own mother, that causes him to harbour indignation towards woman. Then there is Kim Young Soo (played by the excellent Jeon Bae Su; his performance is one of the highlights of the show), who is crippled after an accident at work, and now has a grieving wife, with hospital bills to pay and Kim Ryoon Hee (Kim Si Eun), whose boyfriend commits suicide after facing harassment at work.
These supporting characters and their arcs (with all of their extraordinary performances), not only evoke empathy and an understanding to why they were possessed but also reflect the problems within the society, that cause them to feel in such a way, in the first place. Hence, as the evil spirits themselves say, they will never disappear, as long as humans themselves cause pain and suffering to others.

In all this mix, there is the lead trio, consisting of Yoon Hwa Pyung (Kim Dong Wook), a taxi driver, Yoon Choi (the charismatic Kim Jae Wook), a Catholic priest, and Kang Kil Young, (Jung Eun Chae), a detective, all whom have been personally affected by Park Il Do, the most superior of these spirits. As they attempt to save the possessed, they embroil themselves in solving the mystery of who exactly is Park Il Do, and why is he killing all these people.

The careers of the trio is an integral component that steers the investigation in various directions. Hwa Pyung, who comes from a shaman family, sees visions of the possessed and Kil Young, as a detective comes across the murders and the kidnappings done by the possessed, and has the authority and resources to formally investigate. Choi Yoon, being a priest performs the exorcism. So, as a result, the information is revealed from various sources, whether it is from old records, interrogation, or from the spirits themselves.

The exorcisms that highlight every case, is as thrilling to watch as it is horrifying. All the supporting cast has done a tremendous job of portraying the two conflicting personas in one body, as well as the sound design that keeps jump scares to the minimum and uses those overlapping, shrilly voices for the possessed. The set designs and lighting also need to be appreciated as they transformed hospitals, from a sanctuary to a dim, greenlit eerie spaces, and the rubble in abandoned buildings and basements, that are painted in hues of red and blue.

In each exorcism, the trio also has to face their own doubts and fears, and we watch them fumble and figure out the complexities of each case, as they are as vulnerable and scared as the victim themselves.
Out of the three main characters, Kil Young stood out to me the most. She is the ‘rational’ one out of the three, who isn’t as bothered about spirits, as she is about putting the bad guys behind bars. We watch her whip out her baton fearlessly in front of the possessed, and despite being the only female lead, she has more physical fight scenes than both the two male leads. But she also exhibits a tender side, like when she breaks down whenever she thinks of her mom, or her genuine fear when Yoon is performing the exorcisms. She is written with this duality, that is not presented as humour or criticism but someone with a no-nonsense air, but also with a tender heart.

The Guest reminded me of Signal (2014 Korean Drama), with the excellent script, the tight screenplay, how smaller cases add up to something larger, and the genre of magical realism. So it seems like, apart from rom-coms, Korean dramas have mastered this genre as well.