The Wailing
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Theatrical Screenings
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Kinoteka 3
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Film description
In the sleepy village of Gokseong in the Korean countryside, a series of baffling murders takes place, and the residents begin to suffer from a strange illness that leads to madness. Police officer Jong-goo opens an investigation – his own daughter has similar symptoms. The trail leads to a mysterious Japanese man whose presence sends the village into a collective fever. Facing a growing threat, the locals turn to a shaman for help.
This is merely the starting point of one of the most terrifying occult horror films in cinema history – and, without question, the most fully realised work in Na Hong-jin’s filmography. The Korean director fuses a crime story, shamanistic horror and religious parable into one, consistently leading viewers by the nose through a tale about fear, faith and the nature of evil. He continually raises the stakes, shifts perspectives, sows further doubts and challenges the moral order of the world he depicts. In his film, collective paranoia emerges as one of the most potent sources of fear. A decade after The Wailing was made, it is worth revisiting the film through the lens of spirituality: an experience that engages the body, is rooted in multiple systems of belief and, rather than offering answers, often raises even more questions.
text:
Łukasz Mańkowski
Na Hong-jin
Born in 1974, the South Korean director and screenwriter made his feature debut in 2008 with the thriller The Chaser, which became a box-office hit in South Korea and gained international acclaim for its bold vision and masterful direction. His second film, The Yellow Sea, co-produced by 20th Century Fox, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. Audiences had to wait six years for his next effort: the horror feature The Wailing, funded by Fox International Productions, which also premiered at Cannes and remains the biggest box-office triumph of his career to date. His latest project, Hope, laden with groundbreaking special effects, stands as the most expensive film production in South Korean cinematic history.
2008 W pogoni / Chaser / Chugyeokja
2010 Morze Żółte / Yellow Sea / Hwang hae
2016 Lament / The Wailing / Gokseong
2026 Witajcie w Hope / Hope / Hopeu
