This taiwanese film is nicely insidious, with an introduction demonstrating psychological mechanisms behind ritual and magic before inviting the viewer to join. By all means chant along, as the protagonist slowly, hypnotically implores your assistance to save her daughter. Through layered timelines of found footage, she provides evidence of a supernatural curse while slowly unveiling its backstory. The opening salvos are intense and riveting, with the fourth wall breaking genuinely creepy. The majority of scares are designed to be the ‘slow build’ variety, with brief moments of shocking violence, especially near the climax. The film is more designed to unsettle and toy with the viewer’s mind and mostly succeeding, providing an intense experience depending on how much you invest in the framing narrative. Unfortunately things lag in the middle with a sampler of rote scares but the entire film is flavored with enough tantric occultism to provide a refreshing reskin on routine tropes. However, here the movie kind of meanders all over the place, featuring creepy cults, dolls, body horror, supernatural visitation, creepy children, and exorcisms for all. Some of the found footage gimmicks play off as far too scripted, and the usual gripes are found throughout, but the presentation works and manages to deliver a lot of exposition without derailing the flow. There is also a story within a story providing a handful of some of the worst decision makers in film history, but their story ties together many of the plot threads, and they don’t get off easy. Its unlikely the nature of unfolding events will surprise most viewers, but the experience is still quite gripping and the payoff ludicrously satisfying. Despite some flaws, the unique presentation and esotericism make this one of the better horror offerings of 2022, and continuing evidence for asian cinema being the high bar for the genre.
Incantation (2022)