Genre : Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Release date : November, 2015
Running time : 108 mins
Directed by : Jang Jae-hyun(장재현)
Written by : Jang Jae-hyun(장재현)
Plot (refer to Wikipedia for details.)
This story is about that two priests do an exorcism to help a young girl suffering from mysterious symptoms after a hit-and-run car accident.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Priests_(film)
About Movie
This story is pretty simple, but the reason why the movie was popular is that the director made a wonderful performance of the unfamiliar exorcism in Korea so that it did not look awkward in the social atmosphere of Korea. Before his film popped up, Korean usually thought that an exorcism was a genre of American film. In this movie, he pretty well combined Christian culture and Korean culture. Also, there were good actors and actress!
It is a movie that has been successful in box office, attracting more than 5 million viewers, which is rare for a genre movie in Korea, and highly evaluated for its completeness. It’s been about 9 years since it was released, but it’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think of it as an occult movie to Koreans.
It is the first occult by director Jang, the director of ‘Exhuma (파묘)’ which is the popular movie these days in Korea. If you already watched ‘Exhuma (파묘)’, you can’t miss this ‘The Priests’ movie.
After ‘The Priests’ released, the director also succeeded in his second occult movie, which is ‘Svaha:The Sixth Finger (사바하)’. In this movie, he tried to express some Buddhist elements.
If you are a big fan of the Korean occult movies, you must watch these three movies. And then if you are interested in his next movie, make sure to watch ‘Exhuma (파묘)’. He said that ‘Exhuma’ contains some clues about his next movie.
It’s a movie that not only features a great director but also good actors.
Cast
Gang Dong-won (강동원) is one of the popular Korean actors. His image wearing a priest’s uniform is still impressive moment today.
Kim Yoon-seok (김윤석) is an acclaimed actor in Korea, and he also has good careers. In this movie, He expressed the role of an outside priest in Korea’s Christian community.
Park So-dam (박소담) became a rising star in the Korean movie industry. After this movie, she appeared in the ‘Parasite’, the Oscar-winning film directed by Bong Jun-ho.
News
Recently, there was a good news that made movie fans who waiting for the movie’s sequel feel a little vicarious satisfaction. The film, ‘검은수녀들 (Dark Nuns, temporary title), which can be said to be an external story of the film, began filming on February 22. Although it is not the film of director Jang, Song Hye-gyo (송혜교), who has international popularity in Asia, decided to appear in this movie as her next film after ‘The Glory’ which is the popular Netflix drama in 2023. The release date has not stabilized, but it is one of the anticipated films. I will write about the news of this new movie next time.
Anyway, if you want to know about the K-occult movies, try to watch this movie!