La medium

This was suprisingly good until the characters got completely stupid. There was some great creativity in the plot, but like so many movies, the writers relied on utter stupidity from the characters to drive the plot and situations forward. Some great scenes in this film though. Very hardcore in some aspects.

The scariest film of the year so far and one of the creepiest entries in the world of horror in recent years, The Medium begins as a documentary about a shaman possessed by a local deity in North-east Thailand but soon develops into a dreadful & diabolical nightmare that you can't escape from. Powerful, petrifying & perturbing in equal measure, this Thai-South Korean supernatural horror reeks of death & devilry.

Co-written by Na Hong-jin (The Wailing) & directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun (Shutter), the film employs the faux-documentary format to narrate its tale of faith, inheritance, malaise & malison and gradually brings the viewers into its world of beliefs, curses & superstitions with its informative approach & natural acting from the cast. It takes its time, is never in a hurry & starts to ratchet things up only after the audience is fully on board.

While suffused with a feeling of something sinister & unholy brewing under the surface from the beginning, the film's horror elements lunges to the forefront only after the board is set & all the characters are properly introduced. And the execution is genuinely effective & nerve-wracking. There are scenes in here that are downright shocking & disturbing but what lends those moments their uncanny weight & power are the thoroughly convincing performances.

Overall, The Medium is one of those unnerving horror offerings that feels cursed, brims with an ill-omened quality and is smeared with a blood-curdling atmosphere that only intensifies as plot progresses. Intelligently directed, deftly scripted, finely detailed & strongly bolstered by Narilya Gulmongkolpech's bone-chilling act, the film does run longer than it needs to but the terror it invokes from its eerie setting & skin-crawling imagery is as unrelenting as it is unsettling. Don't miss it.

At least 40 minutes too long with a terrible ending.

By the end of the movie everyone behaves like they've never had a brain in their head. They all deserve what happened to them in the end for being so dumb.

The Medium begins as a captivating yet slow-burning thriller that eventually transitions into recycled scares and an incredibly underwhelming finish. If you've watched horror films centred around spiritual possession, then you have a good idea of what to expect. The Medium does not try to do anything new with the formula as it boldly embraces every found footage cliché. In addition, the actions of some characters will definitely frustrate and seem like cheap ways to move the plot closer to its chaotic yet uninspired climax. I'd recommend watching The Wailing and skipping this one.

I must say I put my expectation high for this since I love Binjong's previous movies; Alone and Shutter but I'm a bit not satisfied since this one is less scary and story is less impacted compare to his previous horror work. Most scariest scene are already in the trailer and some part doesn't really make sense and brought more question than answer. Still this movie is worth watching and deserve at least 7/10 not bad but not reach its maximum potential.