Mysterious events following the appearance of a stranger throws a village into utter chaos. The police provisionally conclude that it is down to a mass poisoning caused by wild mushrooms, but paranoia and rumor point the finger at the stranger—and it’s escalating. Policeman Jonggu becomes convinced by the stories when, first, a woman claims to have witnessed something, and then his daughter Hyojin gets sick with similar symptoms to the other villagers. In his desperation he has an exorcism performed on the stranger by shaman Ilgwang. The Wailing is not the kind of horror film that shocks and scares without reason; it sticks to the rules of the genre but uses them in a less than conventional way. Director Na Hong-jin utilizes this spooky scenario as a canvas on which he paints people’s fates, which is clearly unavoidable no matter what path they choose. Neither Jonggu nor the young priest is to blame for the awful consequences; they just fall into tragedy as Jonggu tries to save his daughter and the priest’s compassion become the root of his suspicion.