Review of Bedevilled

In Seoul, the thirty and something year-old bank clerk Hae-Won (Seong- won Ji) is a heartless and selfish single woman that tramples on coworkers and clients. He boss orders her to take vacation since she is stressed and Hae-Won decides to spend a week on her grandfather's hometown in the primitive and tiny Moodo Island. She is welcomed by her childhood friend Kim Bok-nam (Yeong-hie Seo) that lives in the island and treats Hae-Won with great affection. Bok-nam is an abused woman that works like a slave, married with the brutal and stupid Man- jong (Jeong-hak Park) and has a little daughter Kim Yeon-hee (Ji-eun Lee). The four Man-jong's aunties and his brother also abuses of Bok- nam and Man-jong's catatonic father also live in Moodo. Bok-nam asks her friend if she could go with her daughter to Seoul with her but Hae-Won refuses the request. Then Bok-nam begs to Hae-Won to take her daughter with her, but she also refuses. Soon Bok-nam finds that her husband is having sex with her daughter and she decides to flee from the island with Yeon-hee. However Man-jong discovers and beats her and her daughter, but Yeon-hee hits her head on a stone and dies. When the police inspector arrives in Moodo, Man-jong and his family lie to him telling that it was an accident and Hae-Won's testimony is not supported by the indifferent Bok-nam that claims that was sleeping. When Man-jong and his brother go to the mainland, Bok-nam has a breakdown and uses a scythe to kill her hateful aunties. What will she do next?

"Kim Bok-nam salinsageonui jeonmal", a.k.a. Bedevilled, is another great Korean film. The story, screenplay and direction are outstanding and the performances are top-notch. Yeong-hie Seo deserved at least a nomination to the Oscar with her impressive performance. The inhuman and sadistic treatment of Kim Bok-nam is one of the cruelest ever seen in a film and Hae-Won is a bitch. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not available on Blu-Ray or DVD.