← All Movies
The Wailing (Gokseong)
A mysterious Japanese man arrives in Gokseong, a small village in the mountains of South Korea. Soon after, a bizarre infection breaks out, causing villagers to become deranged and violently kill their families. Officer Jong-goo's daughter, Hyo-jin, becomes one of the infected. Jong-goo then meets a mysterious young woman named Moo-myeong, who claims the Japanese stranger is an evil spirit. A local hunter reports seeing the stranger with glowing red eyes eating a deer carcass. After a series of disturbing events and violent deaths, Jong-goo enlists the help of a Japanese-speaking deacon, Yang I-sam. They investigate the stranger's house, discovering a shrine with photos and belongings of the murdered villagers, including Hyo-jin's shoe.
As Hyo-jin's condition worsens, Jong-goo confronts the stranger, ordering him to leave the village. Jong-goo's family discovers a dead goat hanging at their gate, and Hyo-jin stabs their neighbor to death. A shaman named Il-gwang is consulted, who claims the stranger is a demon and performs a death-hex ritual. Jong-goo stops the ritual midway, instead taking Hyo-jin to the hospital. The next day, Jong-goo and his companions hunt down the stranger but are attacked by the reanimated corpse of another victim, giving the stranger time to flee. They eventually kill him, and Hyo-jin's health improves.
Il-gwang encounters Moo-myeong and vomits blood. After his ritual fails, he leaves town in terror but a swarm of flying insects stops him. He calls Jong-goo, warning that Moo-myeong is the real demon, and the stranger was a shaman who was trying to kill her. Meanwhile, Yang I-sam receives news that his uncle Oh Seong-bok has killed his family. Jong-goo goes home and finds that Hyo-jin has disappeared.
While looking for Hyo-Jin, Jong-goo runs into Moo-myeong, who he confronts about Hyo-jin's whereabouts. Moo-myeong claims his daughter is possessed by the stranger, who is consuming her life force. She also tells him his daughter is still alive, has just returned and will kill his family. She reveals that she has set a trap for the demon, and that all Jong-goo has to do is remain there and wait. Jong-goo replies that he is not sure if he believes her. The shaman phones him and says he must not let Moo-myeong tempt him. Moo-myeong instructs him to simply wait until the third crow of the rooster. Meanwhile, Hyo-jin returns home possessed and while eating with her hands, eyes a knife in the kitchen.
While Jong-goo is engaged with Moo-myeong, Yang I-sam returns to the stranger's house armed with a sickle and finds him alive inside a cave. Yang promises to leave if the stranger reveals his true form. The stranger chuckles at this. Jong-goo notices Moo-myeong is wearing items of the victims and sees his daughter's hairpin on the ground. Believing this to be proof that she is responsible for the infection, he returns home before the rooster's third crow. Upon returning home, Jong-goo discovers that Hyo-jin has slaughtered his wife and mother-in-law; she then attacks him.
Meanwhile, the stranger repeatedly photographs Yang I-sam. He then assumes his true appearance—that of a red-eyed demon, bearing stigmata. Il-gwang returns with a camera in his hand and finds Jong-goo's dead family as Hyo-jin sits in a trance and Jong-goo lies dying. Il-gwang photographs the dead family members, then returns to his car and retrieves a box which he drops, revealing photos of other families and victims of the demon. Jong-goo reminisces about the happy times with his daughter as he dies.