MLM Horror: Incantation (2022)

After all the bad/meh Western horror movies, I decided to try something different this time: Incantation (2022), one of the best Taiwanese horror movies ever made. Allegedly. I remember reading that tagline on Twitter, but I only realised it referred to this movie when I googled for reviews after watching it. No, that is not a good sign. Warning: SPOILERS.

Ronan has just regained custody of her daughter, Dodo, after being under psychiatric care. She used to believe she was cursed after she and her friends broke an unspecified taboo connected to a mysterious Buddhist incantation. As soon as Dodo arrives at her new home, there’s some poltergeist activity and the little girl starts seeing an invisible “baddie” crawling on the ceiling. After Dodo becomes mysteriously paralysed, Ronan finally decides to do something to break the curse. Ming, a foster care worker who bonded with Dodo, tries to help by restoring the video Ronan and her friends filmed six years ago because he’s clearly never seen Ringu. He also asks a Buddhist monk about the incantation, and Ronan tells the audience that the monk said it’s a blessing created by an offshoot sect of Buddhism (seriously?!) (like, have you seen this movie?) (and how Ming then proceeds to bash his head against his desk until it cracks?) that is meant to grow stronger and expand as more people chant it. So, it’s like MLM? That explains why Ronan keeps talking to the camera, trying to rope more people into the prayer circle.

There’s no build-up. We’re immediately told about Ronan breaking the taboo, and the supernatural activity starts too soon, which means there’s no time to wonder if it’s really all in her head. This was a very odd choice considering the movie’s running time and the fact that it seems to take forever for Ronan to react to what’s going on. The spooky stuff isn’t even spooky enough. The “baddie” in the ceiling should’ve been creepier. Maybe if we had seen a glimpse of it? I honestly didn’t get what happened when Dodo seemed to jump off the building. Does her becoming paralysed mean it really happened even if she came back? Another problem is that there doesn’t seem to be much of a method to the angry deity shenanigans. The Mother Buddha wants Dodo, who was accidentally promised to her by Ronan, but somehow does nothing until she’s back with her mother? And then the way she goes about it is weirdly ineffectual, especially when we see how damaging she is when she targets others, like the couple that try to break the curse. Also, how the hell does the girl from six years ago randomly show up within walking distance of the hospital where Dodo was?

The ending is basically Ringu but targeted at the audience. The prayer is really a curse, and by spreading it, you dilute its power. Oh, so it is like MLM! Ronan blindfolds herself and uncovers the Mother Buddha’s face for the camera (and whoever’s watching) to see and share the curse in the hopes that that will allow her daughter to heal. That doesn’t go very well for her because we see her start bashing her head against an altar in the background. Hmm, why would Ronan film this bit if she wants to trick people into saying the incantation and seeing the goddess’s face? The final reveal that she had already talked to that same monk (and filmed it) and had known about the curse all along makes her slowness to act in the beginning even dumber. I guess the lack of face in the end should be scary, but all it did was make me think of another, superior, faceless god, Nyarlathotep.

Incantation is one of those new found footage horrors that don’t bother trying to pass for actual “found footage”. It starts with Ronan’s video diary of her daughter’s new life with her but then expands to older videos she’s made, videos of her therapy sessions, surveillance cameras, webcams, and other people’s smartphones. This all adds up to a fractured timeline that looks less like a genuinely different, non-Western way to tell a story, and more like an attempt to stand out that, ironically, works against the story being told. One good example is how we’re shown the video Ronan and her friends filmed six years ago. Since we already know about the broken taboo and that it brings misfortune, there was no need to split it across several flashbacks. Just have her show the whole thing to Ming after he decides to help her. This would connect nicely with him then taking the video to try and restore the tunnel bit (because, again, he’s clearly never seen Ringu).

So, all the weird goings on with Dodo already happened and the movie we’re now seeing is supposed to be Ronan’s attempt at helping her daughter and end the curse by asking people to repeat the incantation. Of course, this creates a problem: even if we accept that she had already edited most of the video and all that was left to do was the final sequence in the forbidden tunnel, how would that work? Are we supposed to believe she survived that, managed to return to civilization, added this last video to her little movie, didn’t cut the part where she explained her devious plan, and uploaded the finished video somewhere? (And doesn’t her plan depend on people not only not hitting fast-forward on this very long, meandering film, but also watching it with the sound on?) (Yeah, good luck with that) Since Ronan addresses both an anonymous audience and her daughter, did she include all the videos so that Dodo would know the truth? But then, why also show her the goddess’s face? And if someone else found this, why not show it? Just have another group of sceptical young people find the forbidden tunnel and Ronan’s camera, plus all the other videos, alongside her dead body. Then this movie could’ve been their documentary about the dangers of superstition or something, which would, of course, unwittingly unleash the goddess’s curse. Though, that still wouldn’t explain why the hell Ronan talks directly to the camera and tells the audience her true goal. She should’ve switched off the camera before that point and then the movie should’ve just cut to the flashback of her meeting with the monk. There’s no need for any explanations after we find out the real meaning of the incantation. Surely everyone would’ve been able to put two and two together.

The best part of the movie is the video Ronan and her friends did at the village, and which started the whole cursed thing. I wish the movie had focused on that instead. It also made more sense as found footage/mockumentary. Besides, creepy isolated villages are always scary, and even more so when you add a mysterious ancient ritual. Though the way Dom and Yuan trashed the tunnel you should not enter was OTT. I mean, come on! That’s their family’s village, and they kick in the door to the sacred tunnel, cut through the prayer papers, touch the offerings, and finally uncover the special Buddha statue? I know people in horror movies tend to act like careless idiots, but this was too much.

I think there’s this preconception of Asian horror movies as being naturally scary that’s similar to how British shows are accepted as being naturally high-quality. Ringu was genuinely terrifying, but, for instance, the equally famous The Grudge was closer to average. If the latter had been an American movie, it would probably never have become so famous. And the same could be said for Incantation, regardless of the “scariest Taiwanese horror movie” hype. Though, to be fair, I haven’t seen any other Taiwanese horror movies, so that might actually be accurate.

Sigh… I was actually planning to change things up a bit and make this my first Good Horror review, but I guess Netflix is capable of disappointing in more than one language. Unfortunately, Incantation doesn’t live up to the hype. Worse, it’s also nearly two hours long.

By Danforth