Bóng dè

The Ancestral (Bong de) is a 2021 Vietnamese movie that had a promising, albeit cliche start. It started off as a typical haunted house movie that involved a bereaved family trying to have a fresh start in a strange place.

The movie was heavy with jump scares which, to be honest, kept me from dozing off during the first half. The musical score was able to set up the eerie atmosphere.

It's as if the scriptwriter wanted to have a shocking big twist but couldn't decide if he wanted a supernatural or psychological horror story as the reveal was a bit confusing. He either thought he'd do both or the supernatural element was all in a certain character's head. I just couldn't take the CGI seriously which ruined some scenes for me. As for the acting, I thought the child actors did very well. Overall, I thought there were a lot of interesting ideas in the film -- IG: cof.feestains.

It's confused enough for a native Vietnamese to understand this complications. I know this can be better, the director just failed to highlight important events consider the excessive change of scenario. It's too complicated to understand what's really happening and I got lost between horror or psychology.

Family drama with interesting character studies and performances. Sadly Le Van Kiet seemed constantly change direction and made it quite confusing to follow. Supernatural elements reflected in trauma and sleep paralysis but its story didn't nicely hold up.

Moving out to the countryside, a man and his daughters arrive at an ancestral house to get back on their feet following the death of his wife, but when they learn that a deadly presence is living in the house disrupting their attempts at healing are forced to deal with their past to stop the spirit.

Overall, the film comes off incredibly well. Among the best aspects here is the stellar setup that provides a fine framework for the scares to come. Opening on the family returning to the ancestral house in their possession, settling in, and generally being unnerved by everything around them is a great touch to get the film moving along. The spacious location and general unfamiliarity with the house have an already uneasy vibe and make for an even better time when brought up alongside the emotional family drama. Knowing that the father is going through the loneliness the oldest daughter also experiences with their mother being dead, their attempts at healing each other while watching over the other daughter offer the requisite emotional and psychological base to work off of. There's enough familiarity in the structure here to recognize that they're trying to remain a family but remain haunted by the past which is a solid way to go about delivering this kind of material. This fine setup then allows the film to then enhance that creepiness with time-honored jump-scares adding a lot to like. With the eerie whispers and voices coming from deep inside the house to the young daughter sleepwalking, the early setup here comes together for a chilling atmosphere. As time goes on and the incidents become that much more terrifying, the investigation revealing the truth about who haunts the house and their purpose for being there has a lot to like due to the early ground-work established at the start of the film. From chilling encounters in the backyard playing hide-and-seek together that are interrupted by the ghost getting involved to a later vision of the spirit hanging around the family during a karaoke session, the scares involved here are impressive and somewhat shocking. More importantly, a fantastic twist in the final half that renders moot a lot of what had been learned or assumed until that point sets the final pieces in motion for a strong finish, and along with a frenetic pace that keeps things interesting all give the film a lot to like. There isn't much wrong here but this one does have a few. The main detriment arrives in the form of the overall setup being employed here which is overly familiar and quite often featured in numerous productions. The idea of the single parent raising children after a tragic accident is something that's gone through numerous adaptations over the years, as well as the secondary storyline about the children thinking the new adult is going to replace the previously deceased. While overall effective at eliciting the audience to jump, the concept of the ghost appearing out of nowhere and being accompanied by a loud musical stinger is also incredibly overdone which can make the scares feel less impactful due to the familiar setout and outcome. As well, the other small issue here is the film's twist in the third act that, while genuinely shocking as we can't see it coming, does undo a lot of the suspense and tension that had been present. The idea is fine in concept but still leaves a lot of the film not coming off with the same tone and feel as before which is enough to lower this overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Language and Violence.

Well, the movie's cover/poster definitely was really interesting, and it was mainly that which caused me to sit down and watch the 2022 Vietnamese horror movie "Bóng Ðè" (aka "The Ancestral"). Well, that and the fact that it was an Asian horror movie that I hadn't already seen.

Sure, I had never heard about this movie from writer and director Le-Van Kiet prior to actually sitting down and watching it. So I had no expectations to the movie, and the only thing I knew about it was what was presented in the synopsis.

The storyline in "Bóng Ðè" was somewhat of a swing and a miss for me. The movie offered very little of anything even remotely scary, disturbing or actually within the horror genre. This was more of a mystery than it was a horror actually. It was somewhat of a struggle to sit through "Bóng Ðè", as my interest was dissipating a bit more and more as the movie trotted along.

The acting performances in "Bóng Ðè" were good, especially the two young girls, as they carried the movie quite well.

For a horror movie then "Bóng Ðè" was not a particularly great movie. There was absolutely nothing scary in this movie for a seasoned horror veteran such as myself. If you are a fan of horror movies, then chances are high that you will be sorely disappointed if you actually sit down to watach "Bóng Ðè".

My rating of "Bóng Ðè" lands on a very generous four out of ten stars.