The 8th Night: Enlightenment Through the Darkness

The encounter between ancient spiritual archetypes and modern psychology

You can find the original article in Hungarian here →

(Author’s screenshot from The 8th Night.)

Kim Tae-hyung: The 8th Night | 김태형: 제8일의 밤 | 2021

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| Warning: This post contains spoilers! 

A mystical thriller providing a great experience has arrived from the no less mysterious director Kim Tae-hyung, about whom I found almost nothing on the Internet besides a few photos and reports related to this film; I could not even find out his age. He seems to be a one-film director, which is strange because The 8th Night is a mature work.

The film opens with a fictional Buddhist story, which we hear in Sanskrit through Lee Sung-min’s robust performance, which is an impressive feat in itself.

The legend tells that 2,500 years ago, Buddha prevented a monster from hell from bringing suffering to the world. He tore out both of the monster's eyes and hid them in distant parts of the world, appointing guardians beside them whose task is to make the reunion of the two eyes impossible. However, the text also contains a prophecy that during the time of the red moon, one eye will awaken and begin its seven-day journey toward the other eye, consisting of seven stepping stones. The stepping stones are humans in whom the eye wanders from body to body, causing the death of each.

(Author’s screenshot from The 8th Night.)

The eyes have their own specific symbolism, which is connected to Buddhist teachings on earthly suffering: the Red Eye symbolizes agony, while the Black Eye symbolizes anxiety. Additionally, the film contains several elements adopted from Hinduism.

The events are set in motion by an anthropology professor who searched for the Red Eye to validate the Diamond Sutra, eventually finding it. However, the scientific world accused him of fraud, and driven mad by this, he decides to unleash the Red Eye at the appropriate time to prove his truth, which then begins its journey through the stepping stones.

(Author’s screenshot from The 8th Night.)

The dying monk Hajeong (Lee Eol), protector of the Black Eye, senses the trouble and sends his disciple on a journey to alert Park Jinsu (Lee Sung-min), who will take his place as the guardian of the Eye. Park Jinsu—who is currently working on a construction site—was formerly a Buddhist monk performing exorcisms under the name Seonhwa. He is a grim, taciturn fellow who forms a wonderful pair with the messenger Cheongseok (Nam Da-reum), a young monk-initiate who has taken a vow of silence. The boy has nowhere else to go, so he sticks to Seonhwa, and while following him everywhere, he dives into the big-city pleasures revealing themselves to him after the solitude of the mountain monastery. Seonhwa’s mission is to find and kill Aeran, the virgin shaman (Kim Yoo-jung), the only known stepping stone, thereby making the meeting of the eyes—and thus the resurrection of the monster—impossible.

(Author’s screenshot from The 8th Night.)

The police are also on the trail of the mysterious deaths marking the Eye's path, though their investigative work will be far from dominant in the story.

As we move forward in the story, it becomes increasingly clear that all characters are in a karmic relationship with each other. Although it seems like a linear sequence of events as the Eye must pass through the stepping stones, an unexpected turn occurs, leading to the grandiose final clash.

(Author’s screenshot from The 8th Night.)

The entire film has a sumptuous visual world; its locations are beautifully photographed, whether we are in urban alleys, the desert, or the mountains. There is even room for a few cinematic references: seeing the opening scene, images of Indiana Jones will surely occur to everyone. The spectacular yet restrained audio-visual mapping of supernatural phenomena is the work of an imaginative VFX team—the "OM" resonated as the sound of the Universe will vibrate within us for a long time.

(Author’s screenshot from The 8th Night.)

The film is not devoid of effects characteristic of horror films either, which are primarily connected to the stepping stones. The Eye inhabiting them turns them into zombies. We already saw in Train to Busan what innovations Korean filmmakers could use regarding the depiction of zombies. There, choreographers made the movement of zombies unique, something we had not seen before. Here, another feat follows, which relies not only on the mask makers but mainly on the actors to display the identical behavioral patterns, especially the facial expressions, of the zombies. These are immense acting achievements because they transform their real faces into various grotesque masks.

(Author’s screenshot from The 8th Night.)

The final clash is dramatic, simultaneously featuring the levels of human effort, psychological manipulation, and abilities gained from spiritual knowledge straining against demonic forces.

However, the film does not only speak about the struggle visible on the surface. Behind all that lies a deeper, philosophical level concerning Seonhwa’s spiritual maturation. The monk, who previously fled from his fate, had closed himself into his solitude, into the darkness of his pain caused by the tragedies he experienced. Facing the demon is also facing his fate: he must recognize what he was destined for and understand how each small event led to the fulfillment of his life task—his karma.

(Author’s screenshot from The 8th Night.)

"Seonhwa! Now that you have realized its meaning, it is time for you to wake up from your sad dream!" This is said, and the spiritual third eye opens on the monk's forehead, and the image fades to white—meaning enlightenment occurs.

At the end of the film, the title appears again, which now assigns a new range of interpretation to the original: in the inscription 'The 8th Night', the number eight is turned, thus changing the hellish struggle taking place in a finite duration into infinity.

It is interesting that many, perhaps based on the trailer, expected a horror film. They had to experience it as a disappointment that Director Kim’s film flows more slowly than a conventional horror, and although it has plenty of scary elements, it does not employ the desired multitude of jump-scare effects. This may be why those longing for horror receive less than they hoped for, but the attentive viewer receives much more than could be expected. We get a tense, well-constructed story, deeply felt acting performances, and a teaching reminding us of the meaning of life, naturally from the worth-considering perspective of Buddhism.

Disclaimer: All images from The 8th Night are property of the respective production studios and are used here under Fair Use for the purpose of criticism and review.

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This article was originally written in Hungarian for Ricemegatron Expert Film Blog and subsequently translated into English for Ricemegatron Expert: Korean Screen Insights. The English version was created with the assistance of Gemini AI, focusing on preserving the original tone, structure, and critical style of the author.