Rating: 3/5
Oh My Horror 2025 | 30/52 | Folk Horror
In 2018, a documentary team traveled all over Thailand to study the lives of shamans. After interviewing many shamans, the team decided to study the life of Nim, the shaman of 'Goddess Ba Yan.'
In the Isan region of Thailand, the locals’ belief in spirits pre-dates any religion. By spirits, they mean anything outside the natural. That is, not only the spirits of the dead, but the spirits in houses, forests, mountains, in everything. Some help people, and some haunt them and make them sick.
Nim is a shaman, or medium, who believes Goddess Ba Yan possesses her. Ba Yan is an ancestral spirit who has protected the villages for several generations. It passes through the women in Nim’s family. Noi, Nim’s elder sister, was to receive Ba Yan but declined to do so. So, it went to Nim instead. Nim didn’t want the responsibility of being a shaman, trying to take her own life, but not succeeding. So, she accepted the role and is now glad she did.
Every year, the people host a celebration in which they ask Ba Yan how they will fare in the coming year. The people of the villages come to Nim for help with unnatural illnesses. That is, those stemming from the unseen world, such as black magic or harmful spirits. For every action, good or evil, there is a consequence. When Noi’s husband, Wiroj, dies of cancer, we learn the tragic fate of all the men on Wiroj’s side of the family. Now, Noi only has her daughter, Mink.
The film follows the family as secrets come to light. Also, Mink demonstrates unusual behavior.
I appreciate how the film delves into aspects of traditional Thai folklore. It doesn’t treat it as anything unusual, but lets it emerge through the experience. The worldbuilding is the film’s strongest asset.
Narilya Gulmongkolpech, who plays Mink, is also a highlight. As the possessed one, she has to pull some unusual (and unbelievable) scenes, and she makes it work.
The film’s primary issue is its reliance on the found footage format. The genre tropes add noise to the experience that the production already achieves. It wouldn’t be a problem if the film didn’t rely on tropes so heavily for its scares.
Additionally, the movie is excessively long.
Banjong Pisanthanakun has shown his ability to mimic Western horror. See also his movie, Shutter. If he can learn to eschew the tropes, he might be a formidable director. Still, the film has some haunting moments that kept me invested.
Those pink church lights are AESTHETIC.