Unearthing the ghostly grave: Crossing Mai, setting a record was still criticized by Chinese audiences

Exhuma (International title: Exhuma) is a supernatural horror film that stirred up the Korean box office when it debuted in its home country in February. The project opened with more than 16.8 million USD, holding the record of The most popular movie in Korea in 2024.

Thanks to the gathering of familiar stars including Choi Min Sik, Kim Go Eun, Yoo Hae Jin, Lee Do Hyun... the film was also well received by Vietnamese audiences.

In just the first week of release in our country, the work earned more than 90 billion VND at the box office according to statistics from Box Office Vietnam, quickly defeating Hollywood blockbusters such as Dune 2: Sand Planet, Kungfu Panda 4 to create a stir. new fever.

The familiar story of digging graves and exorcising evil spirits

The story of the film begins with the tragedy of a tycoon family. The father often heard scary sounds, and his newborn son was also sick and sick for unknown reasons.

Worried about the fate of his family, he invites two young magicians Hwa Rim (Kim Go Eun) and Bong Gil (Lee Do Hyun) to his house to exorcise evil spirits. Through a spiritual ritual, Hwa Rim discovers that the child's illness comes from a mysterious curse related to an ancient family tomb.

They go to feng shui master Sang Deok (Choi Min Sik) and shroud expert Yeong Geun (Yoo Hae Jin) to dig up the grave. Unfortunately, after completing the tomb exhumation ritual, the priests also accidentally released an evil force, threatening the life of the tycoon's family.

With no other choice, the quartet must find a way to fight the devil together to prevent things from going too far.

Basically, Tomb of Insects still follows the familiar exorcism motif of many horror films. The script is seriously constructed, divided into many small chapters, each chapter has a title that intrigues the audience.

Over time, secrets are gradually revealed, helping the work create a certain surprise, while also keeping viewers engaged until the end when all the truths are revealed.

Arousing curiosity because of the element of spiritual horror

The point that helps Tomb Tomb attract customers is the spiritual horror element with Asian style. This is also the highlight of many recent horror movies such as Taiwan's Incantation or Thailand's The Medium...

The film's script cleverly installs familiar spiritual and demonic elements in Asian culture. The séances and shrouds are carefully constructed, creating a realistic feeling for viewers.

Metaphors about religion and Korean folk culture are cleverly installed, building a suspenseful atmosphere throughout.

The work does not have many jump scare scenes, but every scene is installed properly, surprising the viewer. The sound is also very well installed, helping to increase the effectiveness of each scene.

The film also seeks to combine demons with historical and geographical elements to create a layered, in-depth story. Some bloody and scary scenes caused the film to be labeled T16 (prohibited for audiences under 16 years old) when released in Vietnam.

A few limitations

However, Tomb of the Worms is still not an excellent work. The script also reveals many limitations and cannot fully solve the problem.

Because it focuses on setting up the plot, the film skips the introduction of the main characters. The audience does not clearly understand each person's background and past, so it is difficult to sympathize with their fate and personality.

After a relatively good first half, the movie drops when the villain appears. The technical effects are not good, the character designs are still familiar, causing the work to lose its original scary feeling.

The fact that demons appear before humans also reduces the mystery and horror necessary for a horror work.

The acting of the stars is average but not impressive.

Even though it caused a fever, Chinese audiences still criticized it

Specifically, some Chinese netizens quickly expressed disappointment with the Korean movie Exhuma, saying that drawing Chinese characters on the faces of Korean actors in the movie is inappropriate and mocked in unison.

A post on social network Korean filmmakers chose to display Chinese characters on the shaman character's face as an ancient form of jinx.

This person argued that in Chinese culture, writing or having words carved on your face is considered very disrespectful and even humiliating, which was originally reserved for criminals or criminals in ancient times when being punished. Exile. Many Chinese netizens also commented, criticizing the film's depiction of Chinese culture, saying that translating Korean words into Chinese would lead to symbols. meaningless.

That's because, in addition to the character in the movie Exhuma drawing Chinese characters on his face when practicing as a magician, the mass audience - passionate fans of the movie Exhuma in Korea also turned drawing characters in this movie into a "trend". ", in the style of "spirits" who draw Chinese characters on their faces to ward off evil forces.

A Chinese user uploaded to X a compilation of portraits filled with Chinese characters and criticized the act, in a post initially written in English, then translated into Korean. "It's funny how Koreans write Chinese characters on their faces that they don't even know the meaning of."

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