Reviews

When Ambiguity Mistakes Itself for Depth

Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing wants you to believe it’s profound. It struts into the room dripping with rainwater, clutching its Bible and incense, whispering about faith, sin, and corruption. But the longer you watch, the clearer it becomes: this isn’t layered storytelling — it’s confusion wearing a monk’s robe.

The film opens with promise: an isolated village, a mysterious illness, a bumbling cop whose life begins to unravel. The setup hints at slow-burn existential dread — the kind that seeps under your skin and makes you question what’s real. Unfortunately, what follows isn’t dread; it’s narrative whiplash. Every time the plot begins to establish a rule, the film gleefully breaks it four frames later. Logic isn’t the problem — supernatural horror rarely plays by reality’s book — but narrative integrity is non-negotiable. The Wailing can’t decide what story it’s telling, so it keeps changing the rules instead of deepening the mystery.

The result is a three-hour séance of red herrings sprinting in circles. One moment the Japanese stranger is the villain; then he’s not. Then he is again. Then maybe the shaman’s evil, or the mysterious woman in white, or possibly everyone. Instead of tension, we get fatigue. Instead of insight, we get “gotcha!” twists that feel less like revelations and more like the director repainting the chessboard mid-game.

Worse, the tone stumbles all over itself. The early sections flirt with slapstick — villagers arguing, the cop tripping over corpses — as if we’ve wandered into a dark comedy. Later, the film demands we take its metaphysical angst seriously. The clash isn’t clever; it’s incoherent. Parasite and Memories of Murder managed tonal balance because their humor served the horror. Here, the comedy undercuts it.

By the final act, when the exorcism drums reach fever pitch and the symbolism tries to masquerade as profundity, I was less terrified than tired. The Wailing doesn’t earn its ambiguity; it hides behind it. The film wants you to mistake opacity for depth, confusion for complexity, and exhaustion for awe.

It’s beautifully shot — I’ll give it that. The mountains drip atmosphere, the rain feels alive, and the performances are strong. But visuals alone can’t patch a story that keeps rewriting its own theology. Horror thrives on internal logic: once the rules are set, the fear of watching them play out is what gets under your skin. The Wailing refuses to play fair, and so nothing means anything.

I came for existential horror and found narrative gaslighting. For all its chanting and thunder, The Wailing has the spiritual weight of a wet script.

A two-and-a-half-hour ghost story where the scariest thing is the runtime. The Wailing is for people who like their horror mysterious because even the director doesn’t know what’s happening.

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#真相をお話しします - Review (with spoilers)

I watched this movie, and what caught my attention right away was seeing Oomori-san acting, so I really wanted to watch it. I saw the trailers, and I thought I had a general idea of what the movie would be about, but when I actually saw it, it turned out to be quite different. I feel like it’s more of a test for the anonymous viewer—what would you do if all your personal information were exposed, or if you had to choose to kill someone? That’s what the movie is about: would you rather have your life exposed, or let someone else die?

The film explores cases where people share their experiences and expose others from behind anonymity. There’s also the main case in the movie, where parents make videos about their children’s lives (which really happens in real life), showing how, when taken to the extreme, it can lead to death.

But in the end, I was left thinking, “Is that really all there is to the story?” It makes sense to leave it open and ask the viewer what they would do, but I feel like neither the writer nor I could come up with an ending where things turn out well—it would be more of a social experiment. It actually reminds me of the drama where Suda Masaki plays a teacher.

Overall, Oomori-san’s performance surprised me, but I wish he had more screen time. The movie has a clear idea and conveys it well, but I feel it ends a bit unfinished—still, it’s entertaining.

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So mid it’s actually painful.

This could have worked as a short movie - not longer than 40 minutes. There is just not enough to the story to justify 1 hour and 30 minutes.

I actually enjoyed the ritual scenes and the mechanics of getting the answers was quite creepy. This alone would be enough. But no, they always have to give a plot twist that is obvious from the start. They always need to make things unnecessarily complicated, when just a ghost ritual story that leads to scares is enough.

Everyone was to some extent annoying, I wanted everyone dead, but especially Park Ja Yeong - what a menace she was with her no facial expressions and obvious issues.

They did not even do the freaking ritual correct, not even once. Which made the ending senseless.

Overall, sad it was a full length movie, when it could have been a solid short one.

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the begining and the middle is like sugar the end is like salt on a wound you never knew existed.

its such a lovely movue. the story is amaizingly great, it might be one of my favorite movies, but i did sob at the end, its devestating, but so good. i would honestly advise this movie to everyone, to people who dont really know the best of kdrama or people who adore kdrama's, it is such a good storyline and i think im not gonna shut up about this movie for a while. the actors did their job really good and the girl who plays Na Bo-Ra is so pretty, woon-ho also is handsome and Beak Hyun-jin is so funny, i fear i might love this movie and everything about it, exept the ending, i cried for 20 good minutes. definity a good movie though

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Idol trauma in a nutshell

This should be named "how to help your idol overcome his trauma from the past" because that what this is about.

Now I had some expectations about the story, that it would be a funny fan-idol relationship, where she is trying in vain not to fall for him and both magically ends together BOOM! happily ever after....

But nope, that was a mistake, it's just all about the idol and his past relationships/trauma ... The girl that is trying NOT to fall the idol immediately fell like swoosh!!! Where is the resilience lol

Not saying it was a bad movie but I tend to get slightly annoyed/disappointed when the movie doesn't deliver what it promises, just write what the story is really about ~
It's relatively my mistake too for expecting too much but still it wasn't that great to make up for the disappointment...

Anyway the two leads are okayish. They didn't have any close scenes together to judge the "chemistry" because romance here was so little, but they were fine together.

I don't know what is the drama about, probably will explore what's going to happen next... I guess I'll never know ~~

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Adorable and funny

I love light Japanese romcoms, especially if well-acted, they are too fluffy and cute and help melting all your stress away ... At least for me.

This one tops the list.

The chemistry is great, the leads look good together and they looked their age in the movie, great casting choice, their interactions are nice, they seem like two people raised together, instead of being too stiff, their touches were too normal which is a plus.

Story, let's be honest, manga stories are just too simple, they don't need you to challenge your brain or anything, so it was very light and fluffy, the comedic touch was nice, I had a few smiles here and there, no over the top cringe acting which is rare in such stories.

Overall very light and entertaining ~

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An incredible cinematic thriller combining food with social status

What a thrilling ride it was. Every moment I was holding my breath. From the beginning to the end it was amazing well done. Whoever says Thai movies aren't good I am just going to shove it on their face.

The plot point highlighted two things, if my takeaways from this movie is correct. On one side they showed the social inequality of the current world and how those who have something are hungry for more. On the other side they showed how being special is a curse in disguise and how when chasing success gets in your head you are hungry for more. It left a big impact on me. The pace was perfectly balanced where we got to witness all arcs of main lead's life.

Cinematography and direction wise this is the best Thai film I have watched. It is incredible to the point words aren't enough. Every shot was done in a way where it catches the emotions of the scene and the characters. It was not too fast neither too slow, the perfect pace. I loved how there were no unnecessary scenes or use of music. The background silence and only the sound of dialogues and cooking utensils made me feel like I was witnessing everything first hand. The cinematography alone is enough to keep you on your toes till the end.

One big thing about the movie is it has half the dialogues of other movies. All the actors had was expressions and gestures to act their way through. Yet they managed to express themselves incredibly well through their eyes, face and cooking. Kudos to the actors for managing to pull off all the cooking scenes. This is one of the most well acted Thai drama I have seen.

If anyone asks for Thai movie recommendations I am definitely sharing hunger. As someone who once aspired to become a chef the movie is quite close to my heart and I want to thank the entire team for creating "HUNGER"

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Brutal, Heartbreaking, Bleak, but somehow still Beautiful.

Watched 26/10/2025 at opening weekend.

Before going in to watch, I happened to see the director had said that she wanted to showcase the harsh realities of rising poverty amongst youth, an issue not often enough highlighted in modern Japan. The main symptom seen of this in media is the rise of so-called ‘yami baito’ in the news - in English, effectively ‘crime part time’ as desperate youths whose backgrounds aren’t so fortunate desperately try to stay afloat to afford rent, university, and the like.

This film showcases four such people, whose circumstances leave them nothing else to turn to. I did not expect to be so emotionally moved by this film, at all. The storytelling was also cleverly done, as nothing is revealed too quickly, yet upon seeing the whole picture, there is still beauty in the humanity you can find amidst the brutality. The story is largely told in three arcs, one for each protagonist, and the pacing was exactly as it needed to be. The use of perspective was also particularly clever in the sense that you start the film through the lens of the youngest and most inexperienced of the three protagonists, which also serves as an appropriate introduction to the world of yami baito for those unfamiliar with it. Acting was spectacular and gut-wrenching in exactly the ways it needed to be.

This film brought a range of emotions out in me, from the visceral nausea of reality to the sweetness that cannot be separated from the bitterness. This is not a film full of cheer, hope, and optimism, but it is still a film with a painfully heartwarming glimmer even at the most desperate times.

The closing song is beautiful and fitting, and other than that, the soundtrack was unobtrusive. In fact, I was so deeply invested in the story and characters I didn’t notice any music until the credits rolled, however there was most certainly music there and a composer credited.

I absolutely recommend this to anyone who can see it in cinemas, or anyone who enjoys crime-thrillers in general. It is a superbly well acted film. This is easily the best Japanese film I have seen since 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days (which I also reviewed at the time).

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Violence, Blood, Gore.

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Nice movie and great acting of Freen and Becky

Maybe some people don't quite understand about the storylines, feel that it jump here and there, confusing. But I understand, so I found it very nice and good. But there are some scenes was cut off, it make the movie even harder to understand/accept by normal viewers. So I hope directors can improve.
The chemistry between Lin and Kath, no words to describe! They are so in love even not love scenes or scenes without words. They just look at each other, I can feel they are deep in love/hurt. I wanted to highlight that Freen Becky acting skills really improved a lot compare to first series. Really can feel theirs' love and pain through the screen. Love the songs too "still missing you". I had rewatch many times and even the extended version. With the extended version, some scenes become more meaningful.

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Reminded me of a man apart

This reminded me of Vin Diesel in a man apart and a lot didn’t make any sense in this probably because of time constraints. For example, being practically comatose for 12 years, how is he able to kill two people in the hospital? where did he get the strength to kill all those people afterwards? My guess is that there was a time lapse between when he got out of prison and went to the hospital. Of course the love of a father will give anybody strength. The lead’s antics are unbelievable, but that’s the fun in this film., and it is fiction..

The Camaro was really nice. I thought it was an original at first.

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Can magic be real? - Ignore the tags and find out yourself

Everything I liked most about this movie turned out to be the things I also disliked the most.

The music: Awesome. Until they threw in some just outdated pop-songs and played them almost in full length, ignoring whether it suited the scenes.
The characters: I didn't care about them or their lives, but I genuinely liked them. Until their actions became less and less conclusive.
The concept: Great. But it lacked a story to tell.
The magic: So beautiful and stunning until they exaggerated it. If you know a bit about the "classics" of magic that are also referenced throughout the movie, you'll find nothing new or original here, but it was still nice to watch.
The mystery: Had me genuinely intrigued throughout the whole movie but turned out to be highly underwhelming.

I think you'll enjoy this movie the most if you're looking for something to spend a nice evening with and then forget about it in a couple weeks. For me, it had no message, no relatablility and no red string in terms of storytelling, visuals or music. And of course it's not scientifically accurate in any form.
If you like magic and mysteries, chances are the highest you'll get enjoyment out of watching.

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no talking heads, just people

Four documentaries which flow into each other look at rural life and social issues in the Nang Non river area of Chiang Rai. Each section focuses on the daily life and concerns of an individual. It's not about the 2018 cave rescue, although that is part of the background.

As such it's slice of life. There are no talking heads, just people. Some of the conversations between them are probably somewhat staged, others probably not.

I went in not knowing anything about it so it took a while to understand the format. I found it interesting and absorbing in its own quiet way. It's not the kind of documentary where you come away with a list of facts or details. It's more like I spent some time with people I would never meet otherwise and I'm glad I did.

The title is available to stream internationally on Thai PBS with English subtitles baked in. So no CC button like we're used to looking for. Fortunately I was looking for info to add it to the database so I hit play....

(That breakdown of ratings really doesn't work for this, so I just used my overall 7 for the parts as well.)

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Comfort Food for the Soul

Okay, so Little Forest had been sitting in my watchlist for over a year, and last night I finally pressed play because I missed Kim Tae-ri’s “girl next door” vibe. Best decision ever. It’s basically 115 minutes of Tae-ri cooking, eating, wandering around her village, and quietly narrating her thoughts — and somehow, that was exactly what I needed.

The plot is super simple: Hye-won comes back to her rural hometown after getting tired of city life. That’s it. No big twists, no villains, no tragic breakup — just one woman rediscovering herself through food and nature. And it’s so peaceful. Every season flows into the next as she learns, heals, and occasionally deep-fries things you didn’t even know were edible (acacia blossoms? who knew!).

The pacing is slow, but intentionally so. It gives you space to breathe — like you’re living alongside her rather than watching from afar. The way the film is divided by the seasons makes it feel like a warm year spent in quiet reflection.

Kim Tae-ri carries the whole thing effortlessly. She’s so natural that it doesn’t even feel like acting. One minute she’s smiling softly at her freshly baked bread, and the next she’s just sitting in silence — but somehow you feel everything. That subtle shift between contentment and melancholy is pure magic.

The cinematography is gorgeous. Every shot could be a Pinterest board for “Korean countryside aesthetic.” There’s something almost meditative about watching her cook — the sizzling, the chopping, the way sunlight hits a bowl of rice. You can almost smell the food through the screen.

And Kim Tae-ri… what can I even say? She’s so naturally expressive. She doesn’t need dramatic crying scenes to make you feel something; a quiet smile or a small sigh does the job. You can tell she gets this character — someone who’s tired but still gentle with herself.

What surprised me most is how healing the movie felt. I expected a slow, maybe even boring story — but instead, it wrapped me up like a warm blanket. There’s something so grounding about watching someone find joy in the simplest things. It makes you want to plant something, cook something, and maybe just take a day to breathe.

By the time it ended, I realized I’d been smiling for most of the movie. It’s rare to find a film that doesn’t need high stakes or grand emotions to move you. Little Forest does it quietly, through food, nature, and self-reflection.

If you’re burnt out, stressed, or just need a reminder that peace can come from small, ordinary moments — this is your movie

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