In The Medium, a film crew comes to make a documentary about shamanism in a Thai village. They are particularly interested in Nim, a shaman inhabited by a spirit that is passed down from generation to generation in her family. But the filming will take a terrifying turn…
Thai cinema is probably not the one we know the most, even for the amateurs of Asian cinema. A lack of knowledge probably due to the exploitation of a rather hermetic local folklore, with its numerous phi (a term that could be translated by spirit but which is at the same time much richer than that) and its local legends, like that of Nang Nak, exploited in many films; but also for their taste for disturbing excesses, with for example the astonishing phi Krasü, a creature with a flying head from which its entrails hang, or the horrific exploitation of fetuses and babies, as in “The Snow White”. In short, nothing very selling for the general public in the West, who often knows this cinema only through the Pang brothers (the saga “The Eye”, “The Messengers”) or the directors Parkpoom Wongpoom and Banjong Pisanthanakun (the excellent “Shutter” and “Alone”). Elements that may explain why The Medium will probably not land on our screens, apart from its screening at the Korean Film Festival in Paris. It’s a pity.
However, the film is preceded by a huge reputation, especially due to its exploitation in South Korea: journalists crying with terror, critics having nightmares about it (which will also happen to one of our most experienced reviewers!), screenings where the light is left on to reassure the spectators, others where ear plugs are distributed… Of course, even if we are always wary of this kind of feedback (we don’t count anymore the mediocre films promoting themselves on the disproportionate reactions of the spectators), it intrigues and clearly gives the desire to make an idea for oneself.
An even greater desire since the director is none other than Banjong Pisanthanakun (“Shutter”, but also one of the biggest successes in the history of Thai cinema with “Pee Mak”, an adaptation of the legend of Nang Nak), and the producer and scriptwriter is the South Korean Na Hong-jin, director of the wonderful “The Chaser” and “The Strangers”, which remains one of the rare cinematographic experiences of the last few years to have really stirred me.
The Medium is presented as a story following the character of Nim, a shaman possessed by the spirit of Ba Yan, and acting as a link between the deity and the village. In Nim’s family, this task is passed on from generation to generation: her grandmother, then her aunt were possessed by Ba Yan, but her sister Noi refused to become a medium, preferring to turn to Christianity. Noi has also just lost her husband, Wiroj, to cancer, shortly after the suicide of their son, Mac. Finally, Nam and Noi also have an older brother, Manit.
Pisanthanakun takes the time to introduce us to these characters, their different characters, what links them and what separates them, and even certain elements of their respective pasts, such as the fate of Wiroj’s grandfather and father. In addition to bringing a real depth to the protagonists (perfectly played by Sawanee Utoomma and Narilya Gulmongkolpech), all these details will have their importance in the story, reinforcing the credibility of what happens to them. A story that, itself, takes the time to develop, and even succeeds through this fake documentary to give or suggest to the layman the necessary keys to understand the folkloric events.
And it works perfectly. As is often the case in films dealing with possession, the attentive viewer will be able to spot the first manifestations, often subtle, such as a behavior that changes slightly (a lack of attention at a funeral, for example) or a strange reflection in a window. The manifestations then become more classic, more obvious, but remain terribly effective thanks to a sharp sense of direction (the use of the cameras carried by the team has rarely been so judicious – even if it sometimes seems artificial) and timing.
It’s simple, if the film progresses very slowly during its first hour, installing perfectly its stakes and its atmosphere, the pressure rises then very quickly, not to let the spectator go during 40 minutes. We then switch to terrifying sequences, where the rare jump-scares simply allow us to breathe for a few seconds before plunging back into the nightmarish atmosphere accompanying the final sequence. Like the last part of “The Strangers”, with which the film shares many points (the link between modernity and tradition, the discreet and yet omnipresent presence of beliefs, the perversion of innocence, the importance of inheritance…), we come out of this conclusion completely washed out, and it still haunts us long after the lights are turned back on.
The Medium is a real experience, that it is almost criminal not to propose on the big screen, especially to enjoy a particularly immersive sound atmosphere. Clearly the best horror film of the year, and one of the most striking works in a long time, The Medium is a film that one wants to see again quickly, in order to better understand certain details of the story, as much as to forget, as it can be so trying.
