Acacia

... there's a mixed feeling while watching "Acacia", a family thriller with flirts to the horror genre. Here, a married couple adopts a boy, who they see as the angel to light their lives. But soon they have a child of their own, and their adoptive one isn't happy at all... Cleverly using its shots, this is a superbly framed picture which at times is really creepy without ending up too gratuitous. Editing, however, ends up confusing more than helpful, and even after the final denouement, it's still a bit confusing. But it isn't a bad movie at all, instead it's a solid exercise with some pretty scary stuff. Very interesting indeed, and a proof that there is always an alternate way to shoot this kind of material.

From the acclaim it got I was expecting more from a Korean horror if it's going to be viewed in the same caliber as A Tale of Two Sisters, as some other reviews have stated. This movie isn't in the same caliber except in budget spent on special effects. Think Amytiville horror. With a tree and sparse dialogue.

If you're going to have a movie with limited dialogue, the plot line and characters have to carry the film. This film could have been told quite well in a 30 minute short film concept, 2 hours with a lot of staring at trees and terror scenes that make you not only not scared, but detract in a "What the..." sort of way does not a good horror movie make.

Those people who are stating that this film gave them lasting impressions must literally have heart attacks when decent horror films lay it in.

"Akasia" is a fairly underrated mixture of a family drama and psycho thriller from South Korea. It is a really slow paced movie but the actors all deliver an amazing job and are always authentic so that the long introduction to a more and more terrifying downward spiral of terror with a great twisted ending was worth all the wait. One must underline the great performances of the two very young actors, especially Mun Oh-bin. Another strength of the movie is the atmospheric score and the artistic factor of the movie, for example the way the camera captures the different states and forms of the mysterious Acacia tree or the different drawings the young boy makes that mostly honour the Norwegian painter Edvard Much and its masterpiece "Skrik".

This is a movie comparable to a film by David Lynch where everything starts very slowly but at a certain point, most people are losing it and it's very difficult to follow the movie in the end. Every detail is important in this movie even if some scenes might seem weird or useless at first sight. The difference in here between Daviud Lynch and Park Ki-hyeong is that the ending of the movie offers us a disturbing conclusion that explains everything that really happened once again in a very detailed way.

This movie is surely nothing for the masses and addresses to a public that is at ease with exotic and slow paced psycho thrillers that ask to use the brain and not only relax and watch. The movie convinces me because of its numerous details and artistic roots. Anyone that is into weird Asian horror movies should give this a try and might adore the movie.

After unsuccessfully trying to have a baby of their own, Dr. Kim Do-il (Jin-geun Kim) and his father convince his wife Choi Mi-sook (Hye-jin Shim) to adopt a child in an orphanage. Mi-sook is connected to arts and chooses the six years Kim Jin-sung (Oh-bin Mun) that loves to draw trees. The boy becomes close to the eight years old next door neighbor Min-jee (Na-yoon Jeong) and is attracted to an old Acacia tree in their lawn. When Mi-sook unexpectedly gets pregnant, her mother asks her to return Jin-sung to the orphanage, beginning the rejection process of the boy. When the baby is born, Mi-sook does not treat Jin-sung well, who believes the acacia tree is his mother, and in a rainy night he vanishes. Along the next days, the family becomes insane, disclosing a dark secret about Jin-sung.

South-Korean horror movies are the best in the genre usually supported by three points: ambiguity, boldness and originality in non-linear chillers, with a great twist in the end; The writers and directors are not afraid to usually explore bold situations that Hollywood does not dare to use – like for example death of children. These three factors are constant, and in "Acacia" is no exception. The ambiguity of the screenplay permits to disclose in a low-pace either a family drama or a supernatural story. All the situations have explanations; the viewer has just to join the pieces of the puzzle and find them. In this story, the innocence of the foster kid makes him believe that his mother is a tree because somebody had justified the loss of his mother in a rainy day explaining that she became a tree. The rejection process of the boy when the baby is born is usual between siblings, imagine with a little child brought from an orphanage. The greatest difficulty of South-Korean movies is that they force the viewer to think, and unfortunately many people are not used to do that, giving a low rating to a very good movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

While Acacia won't really wow anyone, it is a nice little film that is a bit surprising. Almost immediately there is a good establishment of creepiness, most of which comes from the excellent camera work and music. Then there is the little boy who was an excellent pick for the movie. The story is different from typical horror, but conforms to the typical Asian horror style of taking something average and making it into a nightmarish object of hell, in this case an Acacia tree in the backyard of a family.

The story tells about a young couple who wish to have a child. Since they have been unsuccessful in making one, they decide to adopt. They take into their home a 10 year old boy with an obsession for trees. Once home, he immediately comes to love their dying Acacia tree in the backyard. However, almost immediately after he is brought home, strange things start to happen. And when the family does have a child of their own, it only gets worse.

Yes, the movie is a bit slow, but there are enough familiar elements, and the story is interesting enough to warrant a complete viewing. Both the camera-work and the acting is excellent, as well as the direction. Some of the shots are noteworthy and the sense of horror here is both subdued and in the cheese arena. You might find yourself giggling at some of the scenes, but the by the end, you should find yourself with something that you have enjoyed. One other positive note is that this film isn't complicated. There may be a bit of confusion throughout, but by the end, it is a pretty clear story, something that seems to be a bit rare in Asian cinema. So, if you don't mind your Asian horror straight up, then you might wanna give this a try.