I watched this movie recently and I noticed that it's gotten a lot of mixed reviews. I think people fail to understand that the ending was not supposed to be a zombie apocalypse and the fine details of the plot.
The movie started off quite slow, with nothing much happening but that is not true. I think the first act of the movie was building up for the events in the second act and the conclusion in the third act.
The movie was not boring because there was a lot of foreshadowing and subtle plot points which took place initially. If a viewer missed those, understanding the rest of the movie becomes harder to understand.
Mink's outburst at her father's funeral and her strange antics which could be shrugged off were extremely important as the plot progressed. The main characters seemed to be dumb but in honesty, they were swayed by their emotions and prejudices., which is a very human thing which everyone experiences.
From Mink's mother's experience, rejecting Ba Yan did not have any consequences so when Mink started showing signs of possession, neither Moi nor Mink liked what was happening since Mink did not want to live as a Shaman. It wasn't their stupidity which caused the story to progress how it did. In fact, it wasn't even stupidity since no one knew about the curse on Mink's father's family and the fact that Mink was also being possessed by evil spirits along with Bayan.
The other thing some people don't like about the movie is the fact that the cameraman did not help pick up the baby when Mink's aunt was fighting to open the door since she could hear her baby cry inside. There are two reasons for it. First, Mink had made sure that she scared everyone since she stole the baby a couple nights before but did not harm him. Mink just wanted to scare Pang that she had the potential to steal her child and harm him. Second, there is a folklore or a belief relating to ghosts in Thailand that the spirits can make it so that the mother cannot see the child even if it right infront to fool them and make them more emotional. Even if Cameraman had picked up the baby, there is a high chance Pang would not have seen him still because Pang had already looked in the crib and she could not see her child.
Third, the ending was not a zombie apocalypse. The spirits possessed the people involved in the ritual to make them fight each other. Mink's family owned a dog meat shop so the reason why a lot of the possessed people were acting like dogs was because the spirits of the dogs that Mink's family slaughtered possessed them. It is in a rabid dog's nature to tear apart anyone he sees which was what those people were doing. Not just that, they were attacking each other. It was the spirit's plan.
The Medium might have used some cliche horror tropes but overall the movie was quite unique and original. The movie was two hours long since they were building up the tension and showing the struggle between Bayan and the evil spirits trying to possess Mink's body. It was only after Bayan was defeated that the events accelerated.
Overall, the movie left quite an impression on my mind because Mink's antics were actually extremely terrifying. The point of the ending was to show that everyone was fighting for a lost cause and even though the ending can be a little bland for some people, i think it managed to showcase a lot of things in a subtle manner. Everything will not be obvious to the viewer on the surface and the viewers will have to use their own brain and pay attention to the detail to enjoy the movie fully. If you want a no-brainer movie, then it is not for you.
The movie started off quite slow, with nothing much happening but that is not true. I think the first act of the movie was building up for the events in the second act and the conclusion in the third act.
The movie was not boring because there was a lot of foreshadowing and subtle plot points which took place initially. If a viewer missed those, understanding the rest of the movie becomes harder to understand.
Mink's outburst at her father's funeral and her strange antics which could be shrugged off were extremely important as the plot progressed. The main characters seemed to be dumb but in honesty, they were swayed by their emotions and prejudices., which is a very human thing which everyone experiences.
From Mink's mother's experience, rejecting Ba Yan did not have any consequences so when Mink started showing signs of possession, neither Moi nor Mink liked what was happening since Mink did not want to live as a Shaman. It wasn't their stupidity which caused the story to progress how it did. In fact, it wasn't even stupidity since no one knew about the curse on Mink's father's family and the fact that Mink was also being possessed by evil spirits along with Bayan.
The other thing some people don't like about the movie is the fact that the cameraman did not help pick up the baby when Mink's aunt was fighting to open the door since she could hear her baby cry inside. There are two reasons for it. First, Mink had made sure that she scared everyone since she stole the baby a couple nights before but did not harm him. Mink just wanted to scare Pang that she had the potential to steal her child and harm him. Second, there is a folklore or a belief relating to ghosts in Thailand that the spirits can make it so that the mother cannot see the child even if it right infront to fool them and make them more emotional. Even if Cameraman had picked up the baby, there is a high chance Pang would not have seen him still because Pang had already looked in the crib and she could not see her child.
Third, the ending was not a zombie apocalypse. The spirits possessed the people involved in the ritual to make them fight each other. Mink's family owned a dog meat shop so the reason why a lot of the possessed people were acting like dogs was because the spirits of the dogs that Mink's family slaughtered possessed them. It is in a rabid dog's nature to tear apart anyone he sees which was what those people were doing. Not just that, they were attacking each other. It was the spirit's plan.
The Medium might have used some cliche horror tropes but overall the movie was quite unique and original. The movie was two hours long since they were building up the tension and showing the struggle between Bayan and the evil spirits trying to possess Mink's body. It was only after Bayan was defeated that the events accelerated.
Overall, the movie left quite an impression on my mind because Mink's antics were actually extremely terrifying. The point of the ending was to show that everyone was fighting for a lost cause and even though the ending can be a little bland for some people, i think it managed to showcase a lot of things in a subtle manner. Everything will not be obvious to the viewer on the surface and the viewers will have to use their own brain and pay attention to the detail to enjoy the movie fully. If you want a no-brainer movie, then it is not for you.