In this new Thai found-footage chiller, a documentary team travels to rural northeastern Thailand, to document the practices of Nim, a local medium. Nim claims possession by a locally-worshipped god, Bayan, has been passed down the matrilineal line of her family for generations. Nim tells the crew that possession by Bayan was due to pass to her sister, Noi. However, when Noi turned to Christianity Bayan possessed Nim instead.
As the crew gather additonal footage on Nim and her family, however, they start to notice something strange about her niece, Noi’s daughter Mink…
This is a film of creeping dread, insidious sweaty tension and a dark sense of encroaching doom. Mockumentary-style found footage horror can be very hard to pull off, not least because you need to deliver decent pacing and editing, and impactful performances, without breaking the reality of the situation. Very few such films can do that well, but to my delight I found that The Medium is one of them.
This is without doubt one of the best exorcism movies I’ve ever seen, one of the best found footage movies I’ve ever seen, and I’d go so far as to say this is the best Thai horror I’ve ever seen. The Medium comes from the dream team of the (Thai) director of Shutter, and the (South Korean) writer of The Wailing. Pan-asian horror royalty for sure, and from The Medium‘s slow-burn beginning to its jump-scare apocalyptic ending there’s no doubt that you are in the hands of masters throughout.
There’s nothing medium about the quality of The Medium – this is high-grade horror indeed.
The Medium is playing at the London Film Festival later this month. For now, here’s the trailer:
Whitlock&Pope 