The Wailing

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Movie: The Wailing
Revised romanization: Goksung
Hangul: 곡성
Director: Na Hong-Jin
Writer: Na Hong-Jin
Producer: Lim Min-Sub, Seo Dong-Hyun, Kim Ho-Sung
Cinematographer: Hong Kyung-Pyo
Release Date: May 12, 2016
Runtime: 156 min.
Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Award Winning
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Within a seemingly peaceful village, a plague of mysterious & violent deaths suddenly take place. The police conclude poisonous wild mushrooms are the cause of the deaths. Police Officer Jong-Goo (Kwak Do-Won) hears a rumor from a coworker about a mysterious Japanese man (Jun Kunimura) living nearby. The rumor fingers the Japanese man as the man causing these mysterious & violent deaths. Jong-Goo, while on duty, meets Moo-Myeong (Chun Woo-Hee). She tells Jong-Goo that she saw the Japanese man where the last deaths took place. Jong-Goo's doubts about the man begin to waver.

Jong-Goo's daughter Hyo-Jin then comes down with the crazed symptoms similar to what the other villagers had before their deaths. Jong-Goo becomes desperate. He heads out into the mountains to find the old Japanese man's home. Meanwhile, his mother-in-law calls in a shaman, Il-Gwang (Hwang Jung-Min), to perform an exorcism on Hyo-Jin. Death lingers in the air.

Notes

Filming began August 31, 2014 and finished February 28, 2015.

Cast



Kwak Do-Won	Hwang Jung-Min	Jun Kunimura	Chun Woo-Hee	Kim Hwan-Hee
Jong-Goo	Il-Gwang	Japanese man	Moo-Myeong	Hyo-Jin



Jang So-Yeon	Heo Jin	Jo Han-Chul	Son Kang-Kuk	Kim Do-Yoon
wife	mother-in-law	Detective 1	Oh Sung-Bok	Yang Yi-Sam

Additional Cast Members:

Kim Ki-Cheon - captain of police substaion
Kim Song-Il - police officer
Park Sung-Yeon - Kwon Myung-Joo
Lee Yong-Nyeo - Jak's mother
Choi Gwi-Hwa - Byung-Gu
Lee Sun-Hee - Byung-Gu's wife
Jeon Bae-Su - Duk-Ki
Yoo Soon-Woong - police superintendent
Jung Do-Won - Doctor
Kil Chang-Gyu - Park Choon-Bae
Sung Jeong-Seon - next door grandmother
Jung Mi-Nam - Heung-Kook
Lee Jung-Eun - Duk-Ki’s wife
Bae Yong-Geun - burn patient, police officer
Baek Seung-Chul - friends
Moon Chang-Kil - dermatologist
Hwang Suk-Jung - chicken merchant
Song Hoon - reporter

Trailers

Film Festivals

2016 (69th) Cannes Film Festival - May 11-22, 2016 - Out Of Competition

Awards

2016 (37th) Blue Dragon Film Awards - November 25, 2016
- Best Director (Na Hong-Jin)
- Best Supporting Actor (Jun Kunimura)
- Popularity Award (Jun Kunimura)
- Best Music ( Jang Young-Gyu & Dalpalan)
- Best Film Editing Kim Sun-Min
2016 (53rd) Daejong Film Awards - December 27, 2016
- Best New Actress (Kim Hwan-Hee)
- Best Cinematography (Hong Kyung-Pyo)
- Best Recording (Kim Shin-Yong)
- Best Lighting (Kim Chang-Ho)
- Best Editing (Kim Sun-Min)
2017 (53rd) BaekSang Arts Awards - May 3, 2017
- Best Film

Comments

Anime Revid Nov 19 2021 7:11 am Horror movie with a good storyline. For me, it's kinda hard to guess the ending with a lot of thing like ghost, curse, shaman, etc. The pacing doesn't move too fast or too slow.

RphHH Nov 04 2021 12:36 pm For me, the storyline is stupid. Shaman, ghost, demon and zombie like infection, all in one and no ending. Wasting my time.

Neema Oct 11 2021 5:34 am SPOILER AHEAD!!

No wonder they got a lot of awards. When the movie is near the end, I was like the most incompetent father and cop of the year goes to the main lead. But when it ended, I was like wow!!we all got played. The director gave us hints from the beginning who the 'bad' guys  are.

Far Sep 16 2021 12:54 am best movie with great acting and story plot. I love the way they make us confused in the end of the movie, but actually they told us all of the story and the characters

Anna Apr 26 2021 8:20 pm I got nightmare after watching this movie. I am the who never scares of horror movies but this movie is really something.

noonalovesgood Feb 13 2021 8:36 pm Highly recommended for those in to horror story! Briliant. Well written & directed. Kudos for the actors as well ?

4 Aug 16 2020 8:49 pm one of the best

wayer Mar 30 2020 4:22 am I get nightmare from this movie. From the ending scene, where the priest meet the devil. Demm. Brilliant movie, I totally believed the shaman. Shaite.

Stechira Feb 10 2020 8:06 am This movie deserves the attention it gets because the acting was good and it will keep you in suspense even after it ends but I didn't like it. It was too long, wasn't scary but it was creepy and the most annoying part of it was that it was confusing af. Even after it ended I was left with so MANY questions.

drinkme May 26 2019 2:48 am the movie being the long ass with 2 hours 30 minutes.its boring. the only interesting part was when a zombie guy attacking the cops. well u can try to watch it if u want. this is just my opinion tho...

Mi.Rae Mar 22 2018 6:45 pm This movie is scary!!

san Aug 05 2017 11:11 am I highly recommend this movie, it is a whole new experience even though it's 2hrs but you will be thrilled the whole time. I dont usually watch horror movies but i heard good things about this one so i decided to give it a chance and I loved it, now its one of my favourites and I'm definitely going to watch it again, its one of those rewatchable movies. not to mention the unexpected ending.

SPOILER ALERT Aug 03 2017 6:32 am SPOILER ALERT

this is such a great movie! i don't understand why people didn't get the ending, isn't it obvious that Moo-Myeong always try to catch the demon and keep the villagers save by putting a flower protection around the house everytime he (Japanese man) targeted a new family? and the shaman (Il-Gwang) is the demon's disciple since the beginning because he has those villagers' pictures (before-after their death) which the police officer has found in Japanese man's house but suddenly dissapeared when Jong-go tried to look for it.

ghost Jul 27 2017 2:00 am Where was this movie filmed?

CKW Feb 28 2017 11:52 am Brilliant movie. Beautiful cinematography and art direction. Well acted and smartly written. The simple minded kdrama fans wouldn't understand such a nuanced movie as this, as shown by the lack of insight in the comment section here.

T_T Jan 16 2017 10:30 am Bad movie. But I think it still worth to watch..Too long, the part of the police and friends beaten the "zombie" was too long. A lot of twists, and it's confusing af. Not understand the ending at all. Like what a stupid ending. Better they make the wailing 2 to solve the unanswered question. MY BIGGEST QUESTION: WHO IS ILL-GWANG?? I just wasting two hours watching this movie.

ME Jan 08 2017 11:20 pm This movie is the baddest & ugliest Movie i ever seen! Dont watch it guys

Sunny Dec 22 2016 6:11 pm This movie kept me on my toes from beginning to end. For such a long movie, I didn't think that would be possible. There are usually parts that drag, but this one didn't for one second. Great acting and a bit creepy, but not scary, in my opinion. However, I can't say it's one of the best movie I have ever seen because I was disappointed by the twist. I just feel that it wasn't necessary. The way the movie was flowing up to that point was great already, but I guess the director didn't want it to be that way. The twist actually leaves the audience with MANY unanswered questions about everything that happened rather than just the ending. It seriously twisted the entire storyline into something complicated and puzzling.

Ping Dec 03 2016 12:20 am Gruesome but awesome. Keeps you on your toes.

LegolasHair Oct 20 2016 5:56 am By the 2nd hour of the movie I thought I had figured out everything but no...the final 15 minutes got me switching my opinion from this to that

The unnamed girl actually tried killing off the demon by setting a flower protection trap around the house everytime he targeted a new family. I think the shaman got possessed while trying to leave the village that's why he returned back to take pics of the dead to capture their souls.

This movie was a brilliant watch....shook me in the end.

LegolasHair Oct 19 2016 12:35 pm By the 2nd hour of the movie I thought I had figured out everything but no...the final 15 minutes got me switching my opinion from this to that

The unnamed girl actually tried killing off the demon by setting a a flower protection trap around the house everytime he targeted a new family. I think the shaman got possessed while trying to leave the village that's why he returned back to take pics of the dead to capture their souls.

This movie was a brilliant watch...shook me in the end.

Hana Oct 17 2016 6:28 pm Season 2 please I don't understand the shit ending ×_× who's the real killer? ? I like this movie more than train to busan

erika Oct 13 2016 10:09 pm This movie sared me to death omg the Japanese person was very scary jung min and woo hee characters also too they did great job but there's something I can't understand it why all this heinous crimes happened in the village. Did jong goo do a bad thing ? Also ill gwang and Japanese man are both devils? I just can't understand the end ×_×

ECO Oct 02 2016 4:11 am The good part of this movie is not paying attention for the big finale but in understanding the smaller sensible things that we miss from the beginning which makes sense only in the end its layered then we think, plays a good game of deception.

sheng Sep 28 2016 1:53 am That moment when an episode of Let's fight ghost where Kang Ki Young copied Hwang Jung Min's style in the movie "The wailing." It was so funny during the car accident episode. The hairstyle and outfit were so alike. I can't stop laughing.

cass Sep 05 2016 3:49 pm Lol.this movie is so overrated.its so confusing.the ending tho

Lilian Jul 24 2016 7:59 pm Same here! Kim Hwan Hee was so adorable in Happy Together! Planning on watching this movie tonight!

Yatie Jul 14 2016 1:59 pm Happy Together and Kim HwanHee brought me here :)

Cocojae Jul 13 2016 3:27 am @Cey: The girl is like the village's protector. Not sure if she's really a human or not. At the ending scene she was like screaming as she feel frustrated that she cant protect the village.. as the policeman didnt trust her. She hangs a trap at his house door but since the policeman already go past it.. it wont work anymore. Supposedly if the shaman go past the door first, he's gonna die or vomit blood again or something. Lol. When the old man turns into demon and start taking picture of thr priest.. it was really funny lol i can't even.

Cey Jul 10 2016 10:14 am Mudo (Infinity Challenge) Brought me here: Yoo Jae Suk - Il-Gwang Jun Ha - Jong-Goo HaHa - Moo-Myeong (the girl ^.^) Park Myung So - Japanese man Kwang Hee - Yang Yi-Sam (the priest LOL)

I'm excited about the horror special ^.^

Cey Jul 10 2016 10:10 am Okay I expected something Very scary, but ended with a confused yet ok movie... its different i like it but its not scary... FYI for those questions yes he's on the demons side I Think (end he was chill when going in to the dead peoples house)... my question is so is she (the white dressed girl) a ghost or just another shaman? Best regards from DK/TR/KD

elica Jul 07 2016 8:36 pm @agassi i think i know two of ur questions except the last one the first is because the girl(ghost/protector) knows the shaman was already on the demon side.. i noticed when the shaman was with his other customers.. thenhe flip 3 coins.. i noticed the smirk before he says "he took the bait" then with all the crows that shows after he saw the girl... and accrding to what i read in the reviews.. the shaman was already helping the demon take over the village hence the picture that falls from the box.

2. the pictures are the ones on the japanese mans home..remember when the policeman ask the jap man where the photos on their 1st visit was he said he burned it already.. yet it was on the shamans box.. and think about what the other police man said when he firt found the pctures.. he said there was this things of the victims, a picture BEFORE they died and AFTER they died... so my guess is that the demon takes pictures on the victims after they(victims)saw the demonic form of the jap man(the priest and demon scene) then after they died the shaman takes picture of the aftermath(the fam of the policeman)

but my question is when did the shaman-demon meet? or what made the shaman think and support the demon instead? when did the shaman get those pictures?

ahhhh! my head is spinning but for me its a great movie tho (movie critics says its nonsense and lame) im not a horror genre lover but i like it

Agassi Jun 11 2016 8:41 pm Oscillating between hilarious scenes and plain horror, the movie ends with an escalate towards plain terror. Three questions:

Why does the shaman throws his guts up when seeing the woman in white towards the end of the movie?

Why does the shaman in the end of the movie takes photographs? What are those other photographs inside the box?

Why does the corpse inside the wrecked truck starts moving when the shaman is casting away the demon from the girl?

Yogesh odyssey opera Oct 23 2015 5:23 pm Anticipated for its release. actually I thought he would make a conclusion or a trilogy to end his chasing(chaser, the yellow sea) duology. Anyway it is Korea's most wanted director's movie. regards from India.

The Wailing

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Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Notes

Cast

Trailers

Film Festivals

Awards

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