If you’re a fan of Korean horror thrillers, then “Exhuma” is a must-watch movie that will stay with you long after the credits roll. Released in 2024, this chilling film has become a major talking point among horror fans. Directed by the acclaimed Jang Jae-hyun, this supernatural horror boasts a star-studded cast featuring Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin, and Lee Do-hyun. “Exhuma” isn’t just a jump-scare fest; it weaves a suspenseful narrative steeped in the complexities of East Asian history. The story follows the unsettling events that unfold after the excavation of a mysterious grave. This seemingly simple act unleashes a torrent of horrifying consequences for those involved.The film delves into the occult, presenting a chilling mystery with multiple layers. While a full understanding of the region’s history might enhance the experience, “Exhuma” excels as a horror thriller regardless. The masterful use of atmosphere and captivating visuals ensures viewers remain engrossed, even if some of the deeper thematic layers go undetected.
Are you curious to learn more about “Exhuma” and its place in the Korean horror thriller genre? This synopsis provides a starting point for further exploration.
Spoilers Ahead
Exhuma (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“Exhuma” is a supernatural mystery horror film about the excavation of a corpse, which leads to some life-threatening consequences. The film involves occult elements and includes characters who are shamans, morticians, and Feng Shui masters. The film’s title means ‘Exhuming and relocation of a grave.’
What happens in ‘Exhuma’?
Korean shaman Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and her protégé, Bon Gil (Lee Do-hyun), are asked to meet a wealthy Korean family, the Parks, about a prospective job. The pair visits a hospital to meet the family’s newborn son. Despite the intervention of many medical professionals, no one can recognize the reason behind his illness. So, Hwa-rim gets assigned to figure it out using her expertise.
The Five Elements of Yin-Yang
Hwa-rim believes in elements that are not visible or tangible. She considers a yin and yang connection between science and superstition. With Bong-gil, she meets Park Ji-yong (Kim Jae-cheol) in the US. Ji-yong reveals that his brother took his life in a mental hospital. He believes that a vengeful spirit haunted his brother. Later, it came for him and is now after his child. Hwa-rim recognizes his curse as the ‘grave calling’ because an ancestor’s (his grandfather’s) spirit is feeling uncomfortable. As a solution, Ji-yong asks them to relocate the grave of his grandfather.
Hwa-rim asks Kim Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik) and Yeong-geun (Yoo Hae-jin) for this work. Sang-deok is a Feng shui master who sells burial lands to the wealthiest bunch. On the other hand, Yeong-geun is a mortician who owns a funeral home. Hwa-rim meets this pair after three years. She tells them about Ji-yong, whose father is Korean. Over a hundred years after his grandfather’s death, Ji-yong wants his grave to be dug up from a remote mountain near the North Korean border. Sang-deok and Yeong-geun decide to help, also considering the hefty compensation. Since his daughter is getting married, Sang-deok sees it as an added benefit.
Nameless Grave
During his first meeting with Sang-deok and Yeong-geun, Ji-yong tells them to keep their conversation confidential and to get the grave cremated after excavation. Although his parents and other relatives are against it, Ji-yong wants to proceed with it. Yeong-geun believes that they should check the remains and purify them before any further procedure. On the tombstone, Sang-deok notices some digits. He wonders why Ji-yong’s grandfather chose an odd location on a mountaintop. Ji-yong tells him that a famous monk named Gisune recommended it as the grave location.
Ji-yong says that his grandfather’s tomb is fairly simple because grave robberies were pretty common. Sang-deok senses an ominous, destructive energy around this land. Later, Ji-yong tells him that his wife had a couple of miscarriages. Sang-deok asks him about the digits engraved on the tombstone. Ji-yong doesn’t know what they represent. While Sang-deok is about to back out, Hwa-rim convinces him that she will perform rituals to avoid the curse while the grave is being moved. She and Bong-gil perform a ritual called ‘Ax Turning’ that involves five pigs and five workers born in the same year. It aims to distract the evil and help with the excavation.
The Soul
With Hwa-rim’s ritual, the excavation works out smoothly. They find a cypress coffin that was only for the royal family. Afterward, while cleaning up the site, a grave digger notices a human-headed snake. He accidentally severs its head, which triggers rain and is considered a bad omen. Because of the rain, the cremation needs to be postponed. So, Sang-deok arranges for the coffin to be kept at a hospital. Meanwhile, he learns that a treasure was buried under the nameless tomb. So, it supposedly attracted a lot of tomb raiders / grave robbers.
Meanwhile, the caretaker opens the coffin in the hospital. It releases the entity of Ji-yong’s grandfather, who seeks revenge on his children. The released soul targets Ji-yong’s entire bloodline and poses a threat to all their lives. So, Hwa-rim sends Sang-deok to take care of the matter. But, after killing Ji-yong’s parents, the entity also kills Ji-yong. Soon after, Hwa-rim and others learn that Ji-yong’s grandfather was loyal to imperial Japan during the Korean occupation era. He was tormented because of his improper burial. That’s why he was haunting his descendants. So, Yeong-geun gets the coffin cremated before it can kill the newborn child.
Breaking Ground
A while after the cremation, Yeong-geun tells Sang-deok about the gravedigger who severed the head of the snake. Haunted by those memories, the worker asks Sang-deok to find the half-cut snake. So, Sang-deok returns to the burial site. Upon digging, he finds another coffin buried upright. He informs Hwa-rim, Bong-gil, and Yeong-geun, who also return to the site. Together, they bring the grave out and keep it at a temple. Soon, they learn that it belonged to the monk, Gisune. It turns out he was actually a Japanese person named Kitsune. They wonder why he buried the grandfather in a bad place if was loyal to the Japanese. Yet, as per the request from the Park family, Sang-deok’s team gets rid of it.
Later that night, Bong-gil sees a ghoul killing humans and pigs. With Hwa-rim, he finds the coffin ripped open and a hole in the roof. Then, outside, they notice a giant Samurai ghoul. While trying to attack it, Bong-gil gets possessed. Hwa-rim, Sang-deok, and Yeong-geun notice it turning into a ball of fire and fly away. Bong-gil gets injured and hospitalized. Because of the impact of the injuries on his spine, he is sent to a bigger hospital. The doctors ask if he was injured by a wild animal. It brings back some memories in Sang-deok’s mind about a fox cutting a tiger’s waist. This refers to an attack on the Korean peninsula by the Japanese people. They installed metal rods, aka the Iron Stake, in specific places in Korea to block the land energy and make them weaker.
The Iron Stake
Sang-deok returns to the site to find the tools with names of supposed tomb raiders. He understands that the digits on Ji-yong’s grandfather’s grave are coordinates for the latitude and longitude of a place. He starts digging further to find the samurai dormant on these coordinates. Soon, he realizes that the people in the recovered photo are not grave robbers but Korean patriots. They were trying to bring out the Japanese military conquest’s relic (the rods) in Korea. Meanwhile, Hwa-rim tries to find the ghoul’s origin through the possessed Bong-gil in the hospital. She seeks the help of two women to get it.
Exhuma Ending Explained:
What do Hwa-rim and Sang-deok learn about Ji-yong’s grandfather?
Hwa-rim figures that the spirit of a general is guarding the iron stake. With Sang-deok and Yeong-geun’s assistance, she works out a plan to take the iron stake out. She plans to distract the samurai while Sang-deok and Yeong-geun keep digging. During this process, she sees a vision involving the samurai. Suddenly, the spirit turns into a ball of fire and flies into the sky and toward the grave site. The samurai appears there and tries to rip out his lungs from Sang-deok’s body. Hwa-rim and Yeong-geun throw horse blood over it to save Sang-deok.
Through a vision, they all learn that the Monk Kitsune embedded a katana (Japanese sword) inside a beheaded samurai’s body. He put the sword into a grave and put it upside down in the site of Ji-yong’s grandfather’s grave. It turned the samurai into a ghoul and turned the grave into a cover for their Iron Stake. Eventually, Sang-deok uses his Feng shui knowledge of elements to slay the samurai. Right after, he faints. The two women in Bong-gil’s room use a chicken as a sacrifice to save Bong-gil from the master’s anima. Soon after, Sang-deok regains his consciousness and attends his daughter’s wedding with his colleagues.
Read More: Korean Movie ‘Exhuma’ Starring Choi Min-sik – Where to Watch and Stream
Trailer:
Exhuma (2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd
Cast: Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin, Lee Do-hyun
Genre: Horror/Mystery & Thriller | Runtime: 2h 14m
