Acacia

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.

After unsuccessfully trying for a baby, Dr. Kim Do-il (Jin-geun Kim) convinces his reluctant wife Choi Mi-sook (Hye-jin Shim) to visit the local orphanage, where they decide to adopt Jin-seong (Oh-bin Mun), a creepy young lad who draws disturbing Edvard Munch-style pictures (which wouldn't make him my first choice, but then perhaps I've seen way too many horror films). Once at his new home, their new son forms a strange attachment to the sickly acacia tree in the garden, and befriends the equally frail girl next door, Min-ji (Na-yoon Jeong).

Mi-sook struggles to make Jin-seong feel wanted—a task made harder by her unsupportive mother, who openly voices her opinion that adoption was a mistake—but things go from bad to worse after Mi-sook discovers that she is pregnant. When the baby is born, Jin-seong feels rejected and starts to pose a threat to the new arrival, and, as family life becomes more strained, the boy's strange attachment to the acacia grows stronger. After an argument with his adoptive mother, Jin-Seong declares that the tree is his dead mother, and mysteriously disappears.

With their adopted son missing, Kim Do-il and Choi Mi-sook's relationship rapidly breaks down. Meanwhile, Mi-sook's mother coughs up blood after an acacia bloom falls on her face and Kim Do-il's father is attacked and killed by the ants that guard the tree. Is the acacia really the reincarnation of Jin-seong's real mother, taking revenge on those who have wronged her son? And what is the sinister secret that eventually drives Mi-sook to homicidal madness?

Trees can be pretty scary: the ominous tree outside the young boy's bedroom window in Poltergeist, the terrifying trees of The Evil Dead, the baby-eating tree in The Guardian, and even the grouchy apple trees in The Wizard of Oz—all of them decidedly unsettling. The acacia tree in this lacklustre K-horror is rather weak by comparison, striking out with flowers and insects… hardly the stuff of nightmares.

The real horror of this film is not its titular tree, which actually looks rather tranquil and nonthreatening throughout, but rather the twist of fate and chain of events that ultimately results in tragedy and suffering—but it is all told at such a dull pace that it proves totally unengrossing. Director Ki-hyeong Park has clearly spent a lot of effort on making his film look as stylish as possible, delivering some admittedly striking imagery, but with such dreary storytelling, very little in the way of tension, and a muddled ending that required way more concentration and patience than I cared to give, Acacia leaves a lot to be desired.

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

"Acacia" stars Hye-jin Shim and Jin-guen Kim as a married couple unable to conceive a child.The husband is a doctor and the wife spends her time judging student art and knitting.Things change when the couple adopts six year old Jin-seong,a mysterious boy obsessed with drawing pictures of an acacia tree that he believes is the reincarnation of his dead mother.Soon the wife becomes pregnant and Jin-seong becomes more unhappy.On one rainy night he disappears mysteriously..."Acacia" is a slow-moving horror film with plenty of creepy atmosphere.It's a psychologically spooky little horror flick with a supremely dark score.The film delivers a few unexpected surprises and is wonderfully shot and photographed,so if you are a fan of Asian horror you can't miss it.8 out of 10.

... 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.