Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Violence, suicide, creepy imagery in clichéd horror.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Incantation
What's the Story?
In INCANTATION, Ruo-nan (Hsuan-yen Tsai) is reunited with her daughter, Dodo, after coming out of six years of intense therapy in the aftermath of a traumatic series of events. Six years ago, she was part of a vlog channel called "Ghostbusters" with her boyfriend Dom (Sean Lin) and his relative Yuan, and they traveled to a remote village where Yuan's family conducted secretive religious rituals. While trying to observe the rituals, they got into trouble by going places with their cameras where they were forbidden to go, and unleashed a demon god who caused bad things to happen. Her encounters left Ruo-nan scarred and horrified that she hasn't escaped the wrath of the god, and as she reunites with Dodo, she must find a way to protect Dodo and herself, even if that means returning to the village where she took part in unleashing the evil.
Is It Any Good?
This is a "found footage" supernatural horror movie overwhelmed by clichés. Incantation has a kernel of originality to it, as the lead character Ruo-nan must confront a demon god she helped to unleash six years prior, especially now that she's reunited with the daughter she had to give up due to mental illness created by the traumas she endured from the demon god. However, it doesn't take long for that kernel to be drowned in a sea of horror movie banality: meddling kids who go where they shouldn't; bloody noses; worms; creepy, mystical elderly characters; rotting teeth; jump scares; excessive horror movie background music that undercuts the "found footage" aspect; etc.
There are even some moments of audience participation (chanting that, quite unintentionally, brings to mind Pee Wee Herman's "Mecka lecka-hi, mecka hiney-ho") that makes the whole thing pretty cheesy. Even the found footage device of using digital cameras, dashcams, camera phones, and so on grows stale, unwieldy, and forced within the first 20 minutes. It's a Taiwanese horror movie that doesn't present anything that hasn't been seen in so many other horror movies.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about horror movie violence, like what's seen in Incantation. How does it compare to violence in other movies? Was it necessary for the story, or did it seem like it was too much? Why?
The film is presented as if it's home movies of the characters -- from digital cameras, computer screens, and camera phones. How does this affect the story? Does it heighten the scares? Why, or why not?
What were some of the horror movie clichés you noticed? Why do you think these clichés continue to come up in horror movies?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : July 8, 2022
- Cast : Hsuan-yen Tsai , Ying-Hsuan Kao , Sean Lin
- Director : Kevin Ko
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Horror
- Run time : 110 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : July 24, 2022
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