Whether you’re a fan of K-horror or just looking for a smart, atmospheric thriller, Exhuma is an excavation worth making.
Pacing and structure — what works, what doesn’t
The story begins when a wealthy Korean family in Los Angeles seeks the help of two young shamans, Hwa-rim ( Kim Go-eun ) and Bong-gil ( Lee Do-hyun ), to cure a mysterious illness affecting their newborn. They trace the affliction to a "Grave Calling" and team up with a geomancer, Sang-deok ( Choi Min-sik ), and a mortician, Yeong-geun ( Yoo Hae-jin ), to exhume and relocate an ancestral grave in a remote Korean village. However, the exhumation awakens a malevolent force tied to a dark period of Korean-Japanese history.
Unlike Western horror, which often relies on the dichotomy of good versus evil through a Christian lens, Exhuma operates within a framework of balance and spatial harmony. The horror does not stem from a singular demonic entity initially, but from the disruption of energy flows. The film’s "interactive exorcism" scenes—characterized by rhythmic drumming, chanting, and visceral physicality—ground the fantastical elements in a recognizable reality. This realism heightens the terror, presenting the supernatural not as an external invasion, but as an inherent, latent force within the land itself.