Incantation (2022)
This movie seriously blew my mind and I don't say that lightly. No major spoilers rest assured so with that being said here we go... Incantation introduces us to Li Ronan talking to us about this curse because she broke a religious taboo. She desperately wants to relieve this curse.
Next scene cuts to Ronan regaining custody of her six year old daughter, Dodo. Dodo is as adorable and bubbly as you can imagine! Thrilled to have her back, she decides to make video diaries and basically record their daily ins and outs just for the sake of sentimental posterity. Unfortunately, not too long after her daughter settles in, creepy shit starts happening and it's disturbingly progressing.
We are then seen in a flashback of Ronan, her boyfriend and cousin filming for their Youtube-equivalent channel. They went to a remote village to document a ritual that worships the deity Mother-Buddha where the 3 have to submit their names along with the incantation. The clan elder then tells Ronan that once her baby is born, she will have to submit her name too. She's like bro wut? She didn't know she was pregnant yet apparently. Later that night, the group sees a girl presumably being offered for sacrifice in front of this tunnel, which was previously being adamantly forbidden to enter. They do not heed the warning and ravage through the barricades and enter the tunnel which these silly pendejos quickly learn why that's a grave mistake.
Ronan, being the only survivor checks herself into a psychiatric hospital and gave Dodo up for foster care when she was born. Feeling she is now recovered she is released and regains custody (thus, giving us context to the beginning of the movie).
Things are taking such a terrible turn and so Ronan decides to take matters into her own hands and tries to save her daughter from this curse by ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
Wow. There's much more that happens in this movie but WOW. I can see why this is Taiwan's highest grossing horror film of all time. I honestly thought found footage movies were going out of style but holy shit fuck Mary this proves that even in the modern age it can still be done well. Admittedly, I am not a fan of the nonlinear presentation of events. You have to actually pay attention to the context to be sure which is the flashback and which is the present timeline.
DID YOU KNOW? This movie is loosely inspired on real events? There was an incident in 2005 about a family that claimed they were possessed by demons. For more info, watch this video for a more elaborate explanation.
As for disclaimers, this does deal with a child in distress and some movie-fake bruises on her so if you are sensitive to that just please keep that in mind. I wasn't prepared, you just have to remind yourself it's just a movie. Mild jump scares but ONE IN PARTICULAR scared the fuck out of me. If you want to learn how to curse in another language then you have come to the right place!
Age demographic, definitely for mature adults.
If this movie had a message, what would it be?
My verdict?
I decided to make a new addition to my posts to add a band from the corresponding country of the movie's origin. Hope you like metal because that's all I'm handpicking!
TODAY'S BAND OF THE DAY IS CHTHONIC!
(Until I find a better way to embed, use this QR code via screenshot or Google Lens)
