The Medium is an atmospheric mockumentary love child from two brilliant minds

 

The love child of Banjong Pinsanthanakun and Na Hong-Jin, raised with so much love and attention. (Image courtesy of kompas.com)

Horror movie royalty. From L-R: Na Hong-Jin and Banjong Pinsanthanakun. (Image courtesy of zapzee)

When news first surfaced that Na Hong-Jin and Banjong Pinsanthanakun were collaborating for a new horror movie, we were stoked! Even if you're not a horror movie buff, you must have heard the movie "Shutter" circling throughout conversations and recommendations of the scariest Thai horror movies out there. 

I know many friends that still tread carefully around the movie deeming it one of (if not) the scariest horror movie they've ever watched. And for good reason. Shutter propelled the already established Thai horror movie genre into international acclaim, even earning a Hollywood adaptation. A straightforward plot of revenge from the afterlife, Shutter was beautifully edited to include multiple twists and turns that kept viewers on their toes, combined with intelligent jump scares and a satisfying creature design. For a long, long time, Shutter was the benchmark of quality and delivery for any horror movie.

Until the late oughts, Western and Thai horror movies were the pinnacle of the genre. That was until South Korea stepped up its game and Na Hong-Jin's The Wailing made an appearance did horror fans start to turn their attention to East Asia. A heavily-laden atmospheric slow burner about a small town cop in a South Korean village investigating strange sightings and happenings leads to a battle for his soul with a deeply satisfying plot twist at the end. 

And this is exactly the perfect combination between two beautiful horror minds that made The Medium such a satisfying and beautiful movie in the genre; Na Hong-Jin's atmospheric slow burn and Banjong's eye for creature design and intelligent storyline editing. 

The entire movie is a symmetrical masterpiece in subject framing. (Image courtesy of imdb.com)

The Medium is a documentary-style movie that ever-so-slightly borders on the found footage sub-genre of horror. Banjong does a brilliant job in straddling the line between these two sub-genre labels, often poking a toe into the latter's territory before quickly pulling it back. This makes the movie difficult to classify and in turn makes it harder for critics and reviewers to compare it to similar movies in its respective category.  

The plot of The Medium takes place in a quaint, rural village somewhere in Thailand and follows a video crew that are filming a documentary on Nim and her role as a shaman and worshipper of Bayan, an ancient protective spirit worshipped by the village.

Not long after, the film crew shifts their focus from Nim to her niece Mink after she starts displaying some deeply troubling actions ranging from angry outbursts to child-like characteristics that only Asians could conclude as a sign of spiritual possession.  

As the movie progresses, the pace of the plot is brilliantly shifted from slow to fast and back again as it juggles between being a race against time to cure Mink and a slow investigation of why she's the target of such malevolent events. The clues to "why?" are subtly hinted throughout the movie so viewers will either need to have a good talent for attention or rewatch the movie armed with a pen and paper. 

A stellar performance from Narilya Gulmongkolpech. (Image courtesy of tribunnews.com)

In terms of cinematography, we can't gush enough about Banjong's eye for symmetry. Every scene, every shot is beautifully crafted and framed including the hidden camera scenes. This is still a documentary-style movie so the "cameras" needed to take hidden shots through creases in the doors and cracks in the windows and each and every one of them were so intelligently placed that the symmetrical framing of the movie is maintained so expertly. 

Similarly, the pace is brilliant. It starts out as a slow burner, but a steady pace is maintained throughout movie with sharp pick ups in speeds towards the end. The only thing we can think of that compares well with the pacing of this movie is an electrocardiogram machine of a rhythmic heartbeat that leads to sporadic readings that then flatlines at the end. 

The lack of a ghost design or creature design throughout the movie is refreshing because Banjong lays on such a heavy atmosphere that you're overwhelmed with a sense of dread from start to finish. The settings and locations chosen in this movie are extremely well planned and designed which adds to the atmospheric effect. We were especially amazed with Bayan's shrine and the burned down factory as well as the small details put together to make the movie even more ominous. 

Narilya as Mink should also be given a shoutout for her amazing and stellar performance throughout the movie which shifts from a disturbed girl, to being heavily disturbed to full on spiritual possession complete with her contortions and facial expressions. This movie couldn't have succeeded if not for Narilya and both Banjong and Hong-Jin made the right decision to cast her. 

There are so many satisfying things about this movie that we can't write here for fear of spoiling it. Some notable mentions are the clash of religions between Mink's mother (Catholic) and her aunt (follower of Bayan), the multiple spirits possessing Mink and the reasons why they're possessing her. The reason why is a journey in itself and must be followed through conversations between several characters in the movie with the camera. 

The only thing we can say without spoiling the movie is that it was never Bayan. 

That feeling you get when you've placed a bet on a football team and they miss the penalty. (Image courtesy of hancinema.net)

All in all, The Medium is such an exciting ride from start to finish, you don't even realise it's a slow burner. A satisfying story complimented by amazing shots and stellar acting, everyone should watch this movie. It's an atmospheric journey of dread, packaged as a puzzle that forces viewers to manually piece together the entire story that once completed, paints an intelligent picture of revenge/karma, suffering and deceit. 

Asian Does Horror gives The Medium 👻👻👻👻. 5 out of 5. 

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