Dark Nuns

Story: Sister Yunia (Song Hye-kyo) specializes in exorcism. She is far more capable than most priests because she was born with a gift, but she is only allowed to act in the background as she is just a nun. After the teenager Hee-joon (Moon Woo-jin) was possessed by a demon and Yunia was able to prevent the worst at first, the boy is in a Catholic hospital now. There, he is under the supervision of Father Paul (Lee Jin-uk), who doesn't believe in things like devil possession and instead suspects psychological reasons behind the teenager's behavior. Sister Michaela (Jeon Yeo-been) is his protégé and she is just as rational as he is. At least so it seems on the outside, because Sister Yunia, who has not yet given up on the boy, finds out that Michaela also has a special gift as she has the ability to perceive ghosts and demons. After a traumatic experience in her childhood, she tries to hide this gift, but Yunia now hopes for help from her, as she wants to sneak the boy out of the hospital to perform an exorcism. In order to do this, she gets help from a shaman (Kim Guk-Hee), but the attempt does not go as planned. The demon is too strong, and so Yunia is back where she started. She is trying to get support from Italy, but the church only helps her indirectly by providing her with some religious relics. So it's up to Yunia and Michaela to exorcise the demon ...

Review: After the success of "The Priests" and some other horror movies that have recently dealt with the supernatural evil, such as "Exhuma", it was only a matter of time before another work in the exorcism subgenre found its way to the big screen. Since "Dark Nuns" is a spin-off of "The Priests", you should expect something similar to that - but unfortunately, you also get the same weaknesses of that flick and even a few more. The biggest shortcomings are probably the aimless story and the flat characters. Problems that the original had as well. On the positive side, though, it should be mentioned that some images and sets are able to capture the religious motifs in an atmospheric way. Especially in the first half hour, this leads to the fact that you can hardly understand the mediocre reviews. After a promising start, however, things unfortunately continuously go downhill. Most specifically because the characters aren't able to serve as anchors in the story either. Yunia is the dogged heroine, who is doomed to death anyway, as we learn about her illness very early on, but her purposefulness and attitude that any means are justified if they serve the purpose of exorcising the devil is not getting rounded off by any additional human traits.

Then there's Michaela, played by Jeon Yeo-been ("Cobweb"), who sees her gift as a curse, and first has to learn how to use it to her advantage. She is reluctant to walk the path that is predestined for her, but despite some flashbacks that try to shed some light on her past and her trauma, everything stays rather superficial. In the end, she is simply the rookie who is Yunia's apprentice and will probably have to succeed her at some point. With the way the two protagonists are outlined, it is a bit difficult to create a special chemistry between them, though. So, it is completely up to the plot to arouse interest. Nevertheless, as pointed out before, the story is quite unstructured. In the end, everything has to come down to a long exorcism, of course. However, the road up to this point is paved with exorcisms as well. Perhaps the scariest scene is the one on the coast, in which a shaman is brought in. Despite the vast sea and the fact that everything takes place in broad daylight, there are some disturbing images here. All in all, "Dark Nuns" manages to occasionally create some creepy visuals which might send a chill down your spine. Unfortunately, the finale does not manage to build on those moments.

A big problem is generally the direction of Kwon Hyeok-jae, whose previous work on "Troubleshooter" was not convincing either. It's difficult to pinpoint what it is exactly, but somehow the movie often feels like it was produced for television. It might be the numerous close-ups, or the rather cheap-looking sets. On top of that, there is also some pretty bad looking CGI. You get the impression that most of the money for the special effects was spent on the fire, because at least that does look quite acceptable during the epilogue. The explosion itself, the computer-animated rats, or the shadow plays behind the demon-possessed boy just look cheap, though. This even goes so far that the actors' reactions simply don't fit with what is shown. Especially Song Hye-kyo, who is over 40 and finally wants to play something different than just roles in romantic flicks or dramas like "My Brilliant Life", looks a bit pitiful in those moments. Throughout, the actors do a decent job, but the directing quality and the special effects don't work at the same level. Same goes for Moon Woo-jin, who plays the teenager possessed by a demon. He shows full physical commitment and contributes excellently to the role, but neither was he given a well-written character, nor does the story build up enough suspense so that the viewer could actually be creeped out by his performance.

The finale drags on quite a bit too, without much happening. And this is despite the fact that there was actually an interesting idea, which sadly was not pursued any further. Yunia is a Christian, but she is willing to use any means necessary to exorcise the demon, which is why she also turns to shamanism. The parallels between Christianity and shamanism - at least when it comes to exorcising demons - are fascinating. You are eager to learn more about it. Michaela was actually predestined to become a shaman, and Yunia is described by Father Paul as someone who actually is part of a Christian cult. But where does a cult begin and "true" Christianity end? There were many opportunities in the movie to work out a few interesting facets in this respect, but in the end, nothing comes of it. Father Paul just has to deal with the boy once and he is "converted" already. Other things seem completely rushed as well. For example, there is a shamanistic monk in training who seems to have befriended the teenager at some point. But the two only had a short scene together. Then there is the Italian priest who Yunia meets at the airport to ask him for help. Wouldn't that have worked via phone too? And why is Michaela unable to run in the end, almost becoming hysterical?

Unfortunately, there is simply too much half-baked stuff in "Dark Nuns" for the movie to be entertaining. Even though the score, which includes a church organ just like in "The Priests", manages to create a good atmosphere, and some images that announce the demon's appearance can be a bit creepy, you get less and less of that towards the end, and the movie runs out of steam during the actual exorcism. There are simply no ups and downs, and when you think something exciting is finally about to happen, it's already over. The epilogue is a bit meaningless too. We get a small surprise, even though it might not be one for most people, and we are kind of promised another spin-off or a sequel. To be honest, though, after "Dark Nuns" no one really needs that. The movie is uninspired and unable to use its actresses in a sensible way. And if a horror movie about exorcism doesn't manage to do more than just send a little chill down your spine, it simply has failed. Then you are better off rewatching "The Wailing". Because that movie actually manages to score points in all those areas in which "Dark Nuns" performs mediocre at best.

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