If you thought the documentary horror genre was done, you need to see The Medium.
Streaming on Shudder, it’s the latest from Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun, who helmed 2004’s Shutter. He has co-written The Medium with South Korean producer Na Hong-jin, writer/director of Cannes Film Festival favorite The Wailing. In their collaboration, the pair play the atmospheric long game, building a sense of dread slowly but surely, then locking audiences in after it’s too late to bail.
Framed as a (thankfully fictional) documentary, The Medium follows a film crew to a small town in the Isan area of northeastern Thailand, where they meet a shaman named Nim (Sawanee Utoomma). She claims to be possessed by a goddess called Ba Yan, who helps locals with blessings and spiritual ailments. For the Isan people, Nim explains, there are good spirits that protect and evil spirits that…
