On its best day, no film industry can match South Korea in terms of quality. Even so, the bar has still been set especially high for Jang Jae-hyun's Exhuma as both the highest-grossing Korean film of 2024 and another cinematic vehicle for international superstar Choi Min-sik (Oldboy, I Saw the Devil). So it is with a happy heart that we report that Exhuma is every bit the horror sensation you've heard.
All the money in the world can't protect you from the pull of the afterlife. So when a rich South Korean family turns to spiritualists to help with a generational curse, the group -- including a young shaman Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and a seasoned geomancer Kim Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik) -- are all-too-happy to be well-compensated for their efforts. But when their cleansing ceremony goes sideways, the group soon discovers there is more to this gravesite than meets the eye. Now Hwa-rim and Kim Sang-deok must steel themselves against an evil even greater than a corrupt soul.
In this short excerpt from the episode, Matt Donato explains why Exhuma is sitting pretty atop his list of the best horror films of 2024 (so far):
There's a reason why it immediately shot to the top of my list. Exhuma is, to me, so in tune with something like The Wailing, where every act is so different. It doesn't have to just be one single thing. It's a haunted thriller. It's a possession thriller. It's whatever you want to say it is. Exhuma just kind of glides through subgenres. There's no barriers.
The Exhuma episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast is now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, or the podcast platform of your choice.
