Three (3) Korean Dramas With Religious Undertones or Motifs

If interested in Korean dramas with religious undertones or motifs, here are three films for your watch list:  The Divine Fury;  Svaha: The Sixth Finger; and  The 8^th Night.

♦ Divine Fury (2019) ~ Exorcism

This movie is categorized as action and horror. However, the religious undertones and motifs can not be ignored. As a young boy, Yong-hoo’s father became ill and a Catholic priest told him that he should pray in order for his father to get better. But when his father dies, the boy gets angry with the priest and calls him a liar. From that day forward he wants nothing to do with anything religious.

As a young adult, Yong-hoo chooses to become an MMA fighter. His fighting career is going fine until one night he sees a symbol tattooed on the back of one of the fighters. He faints at the sight of it. In addition to passing out, when he wakes up his hands start bleeding. He meets a priest, Father Ahn, who tells him he is suffering from stigmata. There’s nothing he can do about this because this “illness” is not curable. Rather, it’s not a sickness, it’s a divine SIGN. He can not be cured because he has been chosen.

Yong-hoo is reluctant at first because he has chosen to be an agnostic/atheist. The priest convinces him that they must work together to fight evil and perform exorcisms. There is one particularly vicious and wicked demon who must be destroyed, even if it could cost both of them their lives. Sacrificing your life is a small price to pay to save humanity.

Main Characters:

• Yong-hoo (played by Park Seo-joon)
• Father Ahn (played by Ahn Sung Ki)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb Rating: 6.3 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 8.0 out of 10 stara
• Viki viewers rated this film 9.7 out 10 stars.

The votes of almost 10,000 viewers resulted in that rating on Viki and I am not sure why. My personal rating is 7 out of 10 stars. It was a very predictable plot and not really scary at all. It did not make my list of scary movies to watch forHalloween. Perhaps it’s because I’m American and can remember waiting in line at the theater to see the movie, “The Exorcist” (1973)

• 8 Reasons Why ‘The Exorcist’ is Still One Of the Scariest Movies Ever Made | Collider

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• Review: The Divine Fury Movie | Drama Milk
• The Divine Fury movie review & film summary (2019) | Roger Ebert

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Rotten Tomatoes Indie. “The Divine Fury Trailer #1 (2019) | Movieclips Indie.” YouTube, 11 July 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzMmYV_5-0A.‌

♦ Svaha: The Sixth Finger (2019) ~ Dangerous Cults

This movie is categorized as a horror mystery thriller. Twin girls were born. One child, Lee Geum-hwa, was normal, but her twin was like a beast or a demon. They left the demonic baby to die, but the child lived. So they locked her up to keep her hidden from the world. They were afraid of her.

Pastor Park has been hired to investigate a suspicious religious cult and he is trying to track down their cult leader, a man who has six fingers. He has a friend of a different faith, Monk Haean, who helps him by explaining various beliefs and symbols. He clarifies to the pastor that this cult is not adhering to true Buddhist beliefs. It is a pseudo-Buddhist cult and he is helping because he wants to stop them from spreading their erroneous teachings. They are important clues that help him find the elusive cult leader. At the same time, Police Captain Hwang is investigating a murder case and the primary suspect is Na Han, a member of that cult. However, Na Han thinks of himself as a faithful disciple who follows orders given to him by the cult leader (even if those orders involve killing).

No Spoilers. But as the storyline develops, the viewer will gradually connect the dots between the birth of the twins, the true intentions of the cult leader, and why the “demonic” child lived.

Main Characters:

• Pastor Park (played by Lee Jung-Jae)
• Police Captain Hwang (played by Jung Jin-Young)
• Geum-Hwa (played by Lee Jae-In)
• Na Han (played by Park Jung-Min)
• Monk Haean (played by Jin Sun-Kyu)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb Rating: 6.2 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.3 out of 10 stars.

For the Drama List rating. A little over 2000 viewers voted. Even though the script was kind of muddled, I agree with the MDL rating. Mainly because I was a fan of Lee Jung-Jae long before “Squid Game”. If he has a lead role in a movie or a TV series, my rating will never be lower than 7 out of 10 stars. He’s a really good actor.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• Svaha: The Sixth Finger Netflix [2019] Review – A muddled Horror film criticising Religious Groups | High On Films
• ‘Svaha: The Sixth Finger’ Netflix Review: Stream It or Skip It? | Decider

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Netflix K-Content. “Svaha: The Sixth Finger | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB].” YouTube, 13 June 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MulAw82G584. ‌

♦ The 8^th Night (2021) ~ Buddhism/Demon Possession

This movie is categorized as a horror and thriller. If you’re looking for scary, don’t watch this film. If you’re looking for a mystery that needs to be solved, then this movie will arouse your inner Sherlock Holmes.

• There is an evil spirit that possesses young girls. A Buddhist monk, Jin-Soo, is tasked with finding the possessed girls and when he finds them, he must destroy them. He can’t save them. They were possessed and the evil spirit must be stopped.

• There is a police detective, Ho-Tae, trying to catch a serial killer. He refuses to believe there is an evil spirit possessing young girls. As far as he is concerned, somebody is going around murdering young girls and whoever that serial killer is, he must be stopped.

Another young Buddhist monk, Cheong-Seok, was sent from the monastery to assist Jin-Soo with his mission. Only he is innocent and does not fully comprehend what the mission involves. But when The 8^th Night arrives, he realizes that a young woman he befriended is in danger. He changes the mission completely. He decides to try to help her escape the monk who wants to kill her AND the evil spirit who wants to possess her. Will that be possible?

Main Characters:

• Young Monk: Cheong-Seok (played by Nam Da-Reum, “The Sound of Magic”; “Doom at Your Service”)
• Older Monk: Jin-Soo (played by Lee Sung-Min, “The Unjust”)
• Detective Ho-Tae (played by Park Hae-Joon)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb Rating: 5.3 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.0 out of 10 stars

For the Drama List rating. close to 3000 viewers voted. I agree with that rating although my rating is based entirely on Nam Da-Reum’s performance. As a young innocent monk, he won my heart. In the midst of the dreadful darkness and monstrous murderous acts, he was a steady beacon of light.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• Netflix’s The 8th Night Review: Not Your Typical Horror Film | Leisurebyte
• “The 8th Night”: 5 Reasons To Watch Netflix’s New Korean Horror Movie | Tatler Asia
• ‘8th Night’ Netflix Review: Stream It or Skip It? | Decider

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Netflix K-Content. “The 8th Night | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB].” YouTube, 20 June 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbYu4-XYNss.‌