Taking inspiration from the novel and successful webtoon “Toemarok” by Lee Woo-hyuk, “Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning” offers an astonishing syncretism between Buddhism, Christianity, and Paganism alongside its strong genre qualities. For his first feature film combining 2D and 3D animations, Kim Dong-Chul shows a fine sense of direction and sets a mysterious bewitching mood that combines horror and spirituality, which is now available from Finecut.
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A doctor-turned-priest, Father Park was excommunicated for performing exorcisms by a church that refused to believe in supernatural beings preying on the innocent. When his long-time friend Jang, a monk from a secretive and magic-wielding temple, calls upon him to protect Joon-hoo, a naïve yet powerful child from his corrupt master, Father Park must face his inner demons to rescue the boy or risk repeating the same tragedy that he took up the cross to prevent.
For the most part, “Exorcism Chronicles” comes off quite well. Among the better features is the mix of animation styles present in telling its story. The extent of the characterization at the start of the film, showing how Father Park is as competent as he is battling demons and other members of the supernatural, is handled quite well. His first battle with the demon Astaroth works just as well as it does due to the striking animation style as it does to the action presented with his Christian powers expressed in traditional anime outbursts. Similarly, the inclusion of Sacred Guardians into the mix brings about a solid infusion of different techniques and themes into the story. As Father Park remains committed to bestowing his faith into the battle while the rest of the Guardians are content and open with practicing more traditional Buddhist principles, especially regarding Joon-hoo’s training, the mix of styles is quite fun to see play out.
That comes together even more with the strong presentation in the film. As “Exorcism Chronicles” features a strong supernatural fantasy component, not just with the swarm of ornate and elaborate demons for everyone to fight against but also beings with strong supernatural powers, getting to showcase them is a top priority. That’s where this shines, offering a vibrant animation style where the human characters are distinct and individualistic to recognize who’s who in the environment. Likewise, whether it’s the thrilling spectacle of the various battles between the Guardians and the Demons or the different displays of their power to terrify or warn of their abilities, the scale of the film comes together with the visuals being gorgeous to look at. The demons look suitably vile and terrifying which adds some chilling ideas to this, cementing the visual prowess here.
There are some issues within the film. The biggest factor is the massive amount of world-building and exposition going on. That there’s so much happening here makes the plot far more dense and confusing than it needs to be. Bringing together a world of demons, guardian protectors, human exorcists, and secret societies looking to handle a sacred prophecy granting unimaginable power causes the story to go in wildly chaotic directions. With a large cast needed for so many plot points, the overall impression is zipping around without much context. Very few storylines get a chance to make sense before we’re thrust into another, and with the already brief running time that makes the film so fast that absolute attention is required or else a plot or character gets introduced without warning. Whether it be too much crammed into one film or a case where a longer run-time was needed to tell this, it’s the main drawback found here.
While there are some issues with how massive and sprawling the film is, “Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning” is packed with action and plenty of intriguing elements that make for a fun time overall. Give it a chance if you fancy this type of animated genre fare or are looking to delve into this style.
