It’s a horror tale six years in the making and today, after spooking those in attendance at Cannes earlier in the year, Na Hong-jin’s South Korean horror thriller The Wailing makes its bow in select theaters nationwide. And what better way to commemorate the occasion than with a nightmarish new trailer?
Situated in a quaint and tranquil town, The Wailing kicks off when a mysterious curse causes all of the villagers to succumb to fits of relentless violence. That’s a descent into anarchy teased brilliantly by the breathless trailer above, and after making a killing at the South Korean box office earlier this year – with critics holding it up as one of the country’s more competent genre pieces alongside The Host and A Tale of Two Sisters – Hong’jin’s is bound for its North American debut.
Rounding out the core cast are Hwang Jung-Min, Chun Woo-Hee, Kwak Do-Woni, and Jun Kunimura. Our resident horror fiend Matt Donato clocked eyes on The Wailing quite recently, and you can read his own verdict here.
A foreigner’s mysterious appearance in a quiet, rural village causes suspicion among the locals—suspicion which quickly turns to hysteria as the townspeople begin killing each other in brutal outbursts for seemingly no reason. As the investigating officer watches his daughter fall under the same savage spell, he agrees to consult a shaman for answers—unknowingly escalating the situation into something far more dangerous. Over six years in the making, director Na Hong-jin’s meticulously crafted follow-up to the globally acclaimed The Yellow Sea and The Chaser (his third to premiere at the Festival de Cannes) smashed box office records upon its debut in South Korea, where fans are already making return viewings to catch new clues and debate what’s sure to be the most talked-about ending of 2016.