Name: Tou qi
Genre: Horror
Released: 2022-04-01
Duration: 1 h 43 min
Rating: 4.7
Cast: Selina Jen, Bella Wu, Yi-Wen Chen

An enjoyable and thrilling Taiwanese genre effort

After being away for several years, a single mother and her daughter return to her family's home in the countryside to attend her grandfather's funeral and try to put the past behind them, but when a series of malevolent events starts haunting the festivities finds herself at the center of a strange supernatural curse.

For the most part, there's a lot to like with this one. One of the better features here is the great storyline that gets everything in motion by offering a strong series of interconnected plotlines to get the events rolling. Getting an early glimpse into her life, featuring the issues with her daughter's illness that requires a stern eye on her since she's entering adolescence and yearns for independence despite the complications preventing her from doing so. As well, that's all complicated by the series of issues at work involving trouble with her boss and numerous colleagues who have to keep covering for her due to dealing with the daughter. On top of that, the pain of losing her grandfather that's clearly the closest person to her growing up, and forced to return to the family home that's none too thrilled to welcome both of them in due to long-standing resentment and anger issues but is unable to do anything about it combine into a highly compelling drama at the center of the film. Alongside this great setup, the film has a lot to like with the supernatural elements on display. This is mainly centered on the use of arcane practices and occult rituals that are shown to take place during the time the two are there, detailing the elaborate arrangements that are being undertaken to send the grandfather off to the afterlife that is corrupted into terrifying encounters. The crosscutting going on between the family preying at his altar or preparing ceremonial items to be used later with the scenes of the evil altar being set up or the spirits interacting with the family creates some genuinely chilling scenes. That carries over into the enjoyable sequences of the curse coming to bear on her and the rest of the family, from ghostly interactions to hallucinations and even vivid dreams that signal something is going on. The big final reveal of everything, including the purpose of the funeral and the series of ghostly encounters seen throughout the house, brings about a highly effective and chilling series of confrontations with vengeful spirits and black magic practitioners that offers some cathartic brawls and chases. With it all ending on a high note due to these scenes, there's quite a lot to like here. There are some drawbacks to be had with this one but luckily these aren't too detrimental. The main factor involved here comes from the overabundance of family drama at the forefront of the film which is mainly focused on her return home to her cold parents. The fact that the coldness and emotional distance are blamed on her not being back to visit in over a decade doesn't excuse the same detachment that was present in the flashbacks to her childhood growing up that featured her father openly ignoring her, partying alone with her grandfather on her birthday or just generally treated like the black sheep of the family without any reason. That this is all presented more to draw audience sympathy and engagement following up the initial struggles trying to keep her daughter healthy alongside the financial hardships imposed on her comes off as overkill when no purpose for it exists in the film. The hashing out of the issue and settling the score with everyone would've made it all worthwhile yet nothing much comes of it beyond pushing the start of the supernatural scenes until the second half of the film. There's a bit of a slow start to this one with all the family and interpersonal drama to get out that the true horror thrills don't start until a bit later than some might be willing to sit through. However, neither of these issues harm the film that much in the end.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language, and children-in-jeopardy.

Sinister events occur when a single mother returns home to her wealthy estranged family after the death of her grandfather.

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Tou qi

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