Well, okay. I think this movie might be interesting enough that people might have something to say beyond “I’ve seen it”, and it’s on a service a bunch of us have or can easily get, so, maybe someone besides me has or will see it. So I’ll throw Tom a bone this once.
The Medium (apparently from people behind excellent Thai ghost movie Shutter and very-weird-not-really-sure-how-I-feel-about-it Korean…demon? movie The Wailing) is a Thai movie about possession. But, as the first character we’re introduced to, a shaman named Nim, points out, in her cultural tradition, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Spirits are all around, and shamans are people possessed by particular spirits that use their host to help the community that worships them. Why is she telling us this? Because the movie is, theoretically, a documentary about local shamanistic practices and her life as a shaman. We get some basics about how she operates, she talks about how she became a shaman (and how the spirit originally chose her sister, who refused), and then we go with her to a funeral for her sister’s husband, whose family, we are informed, has been cursed and this led to the deaths of all the male members of that family. At the funeral (which is Christian - it turns out the way the sister refused the role of shaman was to convert), we also meet the sister’s daughter Mink, and their brother. Mink is a lovely young woman who works at a job center helping people find employment. She’s also starting to show erratic behavior, including telltale signs of possession that happened to both Nim and her sister when the spirit was first trying to take hold, and so the film crew concludes that Mink may be the next shaman candidate and begin filming her and her family as well. Mink does not want to be a shaman, but things eventually become bad enough that she and her mother implore Nim to do the ceremony to confirm her, which will end these effects. Only, Nim won’t. She’s not sure who is possessing Mink, but it’s not her spirit. Mink has not been tapped as a shaman after all. Desperate, Mink’s mother takes her to a charlatan…and this is the inflection point where the horror elements really start to rear their head.
Suffice it to say the situation gets much, much worse from there. I really respected the movie’s commitment, honestly. Punches may seem like they’re getting pulled, and then…they aren’t. Things get rough. Most notably a scene I wish I had not experienced wherein (cw animal violence) the family dog gets cooked alive. Also a movie that is likely to be rough for parents and others for whom danger to small children is a problem. The documentary conceit gets a little strained towards the very end (not uncommon for this sort of movie) but I’ll forgive it. It’s a slow burn, but it pays off.
I’m not sure how much of what it presents about the regional shamanic practices is true to life, but it certainly seems authentic and is very interesting - particularly as a change of pace from your typical Catholic possession movies. Also very curious what led to the Thai/Korean partnership when there seems to be no Korean element to the movie itself.
