The Medium (2021): When the Spirit World Calls, You Don’t Always Want to Answer

The goddess chose her — but something else came instead, and it wants more than her soul.

The Medium (2021) is a chilling Thai-Korean supernatural horror film that explores ancestral possession, spiritual inheritance, and the terrifying price of faith. Directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun and produced by Na Hong-jin (The Wailing), this mockumentary-style thriller slowly builds from quiet unease to all-out demonic chaos, offering a unique and culturally rich twist on the possession genre.

Set in the remote Isan region of Thailand, the film follows a documentary crew investigating the life of Nim, a local shaman who claims to be the host of the goddess Ba Yan. Nim explains that the spiritual role is passed down through generations in her family — but unexpectedly, the goddess appears to have chosen her niece, Mink, instead. What begins as a sacred transition soon spirals into something darker.

As Mink begins to behave erratically — with violent outbursts, disjointed speech, and disturbing visions — it becomes clear that the entity possessing her may not be divine at all. Nim and her family struggle to perform the necessary rituals, but their disbelief, guilt, and spiritual ignorance only feed the growing evil. The film’s format allows a slow, unnerving escalation, as real-world tragedy and spiritual horror blur until the final act explodes in ritualistic mayhem.

The Medium thrives on atmosphere: wide shots of misty fields, ancestral altars, and shadowy rituals create a mood of quiet dread. The possession scenes are raw and unsettling, grounded in Thai spiritual beliefs and practices rarely explored in global horror cinema. It’s not jump-scare reliant — instead, it burrows deep into psychological and cultural terror, where trauma and tradition intertwine.

Haunting, tragic, and unforgettable, The Medium (2021) is not just a ghost story — it’s a descent into generational horror, where the spirits we inherit may not be ours to control.