Incantation (film)
| Incantation | |
|---|---|
.jpeg) Official release poster | |
| Original title | 咒 |
| Directed by | Kevin Ko |
| Screenplay by | |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Chen Ko-chin |
| Edited by | Kevin Ko |
| Music by | Rockid Lee |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | Taiwan |
| Languages | Mandarin Taiwanese Hokkien |
| Budget | $1 million |
| Box office | $5.7 million |
Incantation (Chinese: 咒; pinyin: Zhòu) is a 2022 Taiwanese found footage supernatural folk horror film directed by Kevin Ko, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Chang Che-wei. The film was released in Taiwan on 18 March 2022, and it became the highest-grossing Taiwanese horror film. It received an international distribution from Netflix on 8 July 2022.
Plot
[edit]A woman named Li Ronan implores the viewer to memorize an insignia and chant an incantation to send blessings and lift the curse on her six-year-old daughter, Dodo. The insignia and incantation are interspersed frequently throughout the film to encourage the viewer to pray along. The events are shown as found footage in a non-linear manner. The written plot is in chronological order.
Six years earlier, a newly-pregnant Ronan, her boyfriend Dom, and Dom's cousin Yuan break a serious religious taboo while documenting a ritual for their online video channel. They visit Dom and Yuan's relatives in a remote clan mountain village, where the villagers practice an esoteric Yunnan religion, worshiping an ancestral deity called Mother Buddha. They spy on the clan preparing a child for sacrifice. The unconscious child, whose body is covered in runes, is left in front of a tunnel that the clan has expressly forbidden the trio from entering. Dom and Yuan enter the tunnel; Yuan shortly emerges, screaming, while Dom's dead body is carried out by the villagers. The footage from within the tunnel shot by Dom and Yuan has since become damaged. After Dodo is born, Ronan leaves her at a foster care home and seeks psychiatric help.
In the present, Ronan has recovered and is taking Dodo to live with her, feeling ready. However, Dodo is disturbed by a malicious presence and develops a debilitating illness. When social workers arrive to take Dodo away, feeling that Ronan is unsuitable, the mother and daughter escape with the help of Ming, the sympathetic manager of the foster home. They bring Dodo to a shrine, where a priest and his wife forbid her from eating for the next seven days, but when runes appear all over her body, Ronan feeds her in desperation. The priest and his wife are violently killed and Dodo deteriorates.
Ming goes to Yunnan to visit an elder monk that specializes in translating Buddhist esoteric scriptures and has the damaged tunnel footage professionally restored. After watching the restored footage, he becomes possessed and kills himself. In the footage, it is shown that Dom and Yuan passed disturbing items laid ritualistically throughout the tunnel, which led to the altar of Mother Buddha. When removing the veil from Mother Buddha's face, Dom becomes possessed and dies. Yuan makes it out but is violently killed by unseen forces. The villagers burned Dom's body, and their bodies were also covered in runes.
Ronan confesses that she has been lying to the viewer all along. The priest Ming visited in Yunnan revealed that Mother Buddha is in fact a malevolent entity that was brought from Southeast Asia to Yunnan; if one submits one's name with the incantation, it means one agrees to carry her curse. Instead of conveying blessings, the incantation actually serves to dilute the curse; when more people chant it, the curse spreads out and the burden on those bearing it becomes lighter, with fewer misfortunes befalling them. Mother Buddha's face has to be covered because it is the source of the curse. Ronan returns Dodo to the foster home and travels back to the tunnel in the now-abandoned village. At the altar, she reveals Mother Buddha's face on camera, intending to curse the viewers to save her daughter. She then gets possessed and kills herself. The film ends with a happy and healthy Dodo, implying that the burden of her curse has been shared with everyone who watched the film, lightening its effects.
Cast
[edit]- Tsai Hsuan-yen as Li Ronan
- Huang Sin-ting as Dodo
- Kao Ying-hsuan as Ming
- Sean Lin as Dom
- RQ (Wen Ching-yu) as Yuan
Production
[edit]Background
[edit]The film is inspired by an incident in Gushan District, Kaohsiung in 2005. A family of six had claimed that they were possessed by various Chinese folk religion deities and accused each other of being possessed by demons masquerading as deities. They burned each other with incense, hit each other with sticks and spirit tablets, and splashed feces and urine on each other in an attempt to expel the demons. In the end, they singled out the eldest daughter and attacked her until she died of her injuries.[1][2] The five remaining members of her family were subsequently charged with the offense of "abandoning a helpless person resulting in the person's death".[3] The case was considered one of mass hysteria.[4]
Design
[edit]Kevin Ko explained that the Mother Buddha, hand gestures, chant, symbols, and everything associated with the religion in the film are all fictitious. Much of the budget was spent on the design and production of the props, especially the large statue of the Mother Buddha.[5]
The image of the Mother Buddha incorporated elements from Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism.[6]
Release
[edit]Incantation was showcased at the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF) project market during the 2019 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival before entering production and going on to become the highest-grossing Taiwanese horror film.[7] The film was released in Taiwan on March 18, 2022, and also screened at the Far East Film Festival.[8] In June 2022, Netflix announced that it would distribute the film worldwide on July 8, 2022.[9]
Reception
[edit]Box office
[edit]As of June 2022, Incantation has grossed NT$170,000,000 (US$5,700,000), making it the highest-grossing 2022 film in Taiwan. It became the highest-grossing Taiwanese horror film of all time.[10]
Critical response
[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 75% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[11]
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Awards | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24th Taipei Film Awards | Best Narrative Feature | Incantation | Nominated | [12][13] |
| Best Director | Kevin Ko | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress | Tsai Hsuan-yen | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kao Ying-hsuan | Won | ||
| Best Cinematography | Chen Ko-chin | Nominated | ||
| Best Art Design | Otto Chen | Won | ||
| Best Visual Effects | MoonShine Animation | Nominated | ||
| 59th Golden Horse Awards | Best Narrative Feature | Incantation | Nominated | [14] |
| Best Director | Kevin Ko | Nominated | ||
| Best Leading Actress | Tsai Hsuan-yen | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kao Ying-hsuan | Nominated | ||
| Best New Performer | Huang Sin-ting | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Screenplay | Chang Che-wei and Kevin Ko | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | Chen Ko-chin | Nominated | ||
| Best Visual Effects | Huang Min-pin, Hsieh Meng-cheng, Lu Kuan-sang and Li Che-cheng | Nominated | ||
| Best Art Direction | Otto Chen | Nominated | ||
| Best Makeup & Costume Design | Dong Yan-xiu and Chu Chia-yi | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Film Score | Rockid Lee | Nominated | ||
| Best Film Editing | Kevin Ko | Won | ||
| Best Sound Effects | R.T Kao, Rockid Lee and Richard Hocks | Won | ||
| Audience Choice Award | Incantation | Nominated |
References
[edit]- ^ Siu-chi, Huang (April 21, 2005). "Family of six goes into trance, splashes feces on each other" (in Chinese). Taiwan: Liberty Times. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
- ^ "The true story behind Netflix's "Incantation" is scarier than the movie". The Storm Media (in Chinese). Taiwan. July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
- ^ "Criminal Code of the Republic of China". Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan). Ministry of Justice, The Republic of China. February 18, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
- ^ "Taiwan's scariest horror film "Incantation" starts showing on Netflix in July". Marie Claire Taiwan (in Chinese). Taiwan. July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
- ^ "Is the Buddha-Mother real? 7 things about Taiwanese horror movie "Incantation" explained". Girl Style (in Chinese). Taiwan. March 26, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
- ^ "Clarifying the movie Incantation's details from Tibetan Buddhist tradition: Does the Buddha-Mother exist? What does the Buddha-Mother's sigil mean?". thenewslens (in Chinese). Taiwan. July 17, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ RosserT11:55:00+01:00, Michael (June 6, 2022). "Korea's Bifan reveals genre project line up for NAFF 2022". Screen Daily.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Ma, Kevin. "Incantation". Far East Film Festival. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
- ^ Perry, Spencer (June 8, 2022). "Incantation Trailer: Netflix Acquires "Most Terrifying Film Ever Made"". Comicbook.com. CBS Interactive.
- ^ Chu, Karen (June 8, 2022). "Netflix Takes Global Rights to Taiwanese Horror Blockbuster Incantation (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. PMRC.
- ^ "Incantation". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ "Taipei Film Awards". www.taipeiff.taipei. Archived from the original on August 2, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- ^ "【2022台北電影節】第24屆北影得獎名單公布！ 柯震東成為北影新科影帝、陳湘琪成功摘北影影后". Harper's BAZAAR (in Chinese (Taiwan)). July 9, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- ^ "Hong Kong film 'Limbo' leads Golden Horse Award nominations - Focus Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw. September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
