Svaha: The Sixth Finger is a Korean film that mixes several genre tropes in delivering what becomes a bit of a polarizing experience if you’re coming in expecting what it seems to advertise. And that, without a doubt, is a traditional Asian-style horror film, complete with creepy girl and demonic possession, which, for about an hour, is exactly what it is. But then, well, it folds itself into a perplexing pretzel and swiftly veers in another direction where it sheds all of that and becomes a straight up investigation thriller. Does it work? You bet.
That owes much to director and writer Jang Jae-hyun, who hides a number of intriguing questions about religion and faith in Svaha: The Sixth Finger (Korean title 사바하), nestling them in the dark shadows of some often standard imagery that fools us into thinking were watching a generic scary movie before opening our eyes to more deeper philosophical exploration. Who are followers? How separate are denominations? Do the faithful know their own faith? It’s quite masterful, demanding at least a second viewing.
The story begins with the birth of twin girls in a remote Korean village. The year is 1999, and one of the babies is a somewhat disfigured creature that is literally tossed aside, not expected to live through the night. The other child is named Geumhwa (played grown by Lee Jae-in), she born with a scar on her leg that it is suggested, was caused by the other gnawing on her flesh in the womb. It’s a grisly start.
The discarded twin does not die however, and is mostly abandoned, kept in a rickety shed in the back, fed scraps and chained in the dark. Geumhwa’s mother dies shortly after giving birth while her father hangs himself, leaving his daughter to be raised by her grandparents, both of whom live with insurmountable guilt for the abomination they keep hidden in the back of the property. Importantly, the girl in the shed is never registered officially and so remains a lost identity. But believe me, that changes and not at all to what you think.
Meanwhile, Pastor Park (Lee Jung-jae) works diligently to uncover and stop dangerous cults from spreading throughout the country. It’s brought him a bit of fame though more so, a number of bothersome enemies. His latest efforts are for revealing the truth about a new sect called “Deer Mountain,” a Buddhist-like group that have begun to spring up in four – meaningful as we learn – locations. At the same time, police begin to investigate the death of a school girl found encased in the concrete of an old road bridge. Is there a connection? Park, who forms an alliance with a few Buddhist monks, believes so, and soon finds himself sinking uncontrollably into a terrifying truth that has him questioning his own faith while to stop a murderous spree.
The first half of Svaha is pure Asian horror, with startling images of a long haired school girl trapped in the darkness seemingly imbued with demonic powers of savage evil. We meet a man named Na-han (Park Jung-min), who bears great importance to the plot, haunted by a collection of other similarly aged girls that make for several unsettling moments that for fans of the genre will absolutely delight. It’s the stuff that keeps the lights on when it’s time for what will be very restless sleep.
However, this is all but abandoned as the second half begins and the reality behind who this girl in the shed is and how she is connected to a cult-ish leader named Kim Je-seok that drive us forward to the end. Perhaps some might not appreciate the shift, and certainly, there is a lot to keep track of once this thread takes its run, but Jang so expertly steers all of this to his urgent finale, it’s almost praiseworthy for his bait and switch storyline. Indeed, I nearly tuned out after an early moment where a man “sees” a girl in a vision, one that is so blatantly made up like the clichéd Asian horror stereotype and then altered with CGI to keep up appearances it seems like a parody. What was I watching? But it’s like Jang is purposefully poking his audience, suggesting that what is rote and hollow can be turned into substance.
As good as the horror is during the first half, and I mean it’s good fun for sure, it is the turnaround in the second that sells this. Jang goes a long way in making that work but it is the terrific work of Lee Jung-Jae that makes this so successful. Lee has been doing this a long time and does some of his best work as the troubled Pastor, giving the man a great sense of humanity as he too makes a dramatic shift from the start to the finish.
One of the best things about Park is how the character evolves, his sort of whimsical, playful and clumsy take on his work becoming life-endangering, turning him into a darkly cynical man that is witness to something truly cruel. There is a moment when he must plead with an all but detached police captain to do his job that is emotionally draining, made all the more impactful a moment later when we get a short sequence where a series of papers are removed from a bulletin board that reveals how time and unfocused attention blur a greater more sinister injustice. There is an unspoken weight of guilt that befalls this man that is superbly revealed.
Svaha: The Sixth Finger is a difficult film to recommend as it doesn’t entirely play by the rules it sets up, therefore losing perhaps many who come looking for jolts. One must pay attention to fully grasp where it leads, and there is much to keep track of as Pastor Park is only part of a several cogs in a machine that is grinding up all who fall into the works. It’s a dark and brooding experience that starts rather broad-brushed before unspooling its better self the more it presses on.