The Mimic (2017)

[Written/Watched 19 Oct, 2019 on Letterboxd.]

It's really hard not to think about "The Wailing" when watching "The Mimic" (on Shudder). And that's not to say they're identical films (they're not), but both films feature a character whose good senses fly the coop despite being warned against doing the thing that will doom them.

With "The Wailing", it was kinda understandable. The daughter was still alive (to a degree) and the father acted on instinct instead of wisdom. "The Mimic", however, ultimately argues the mother's grief over her missing (and likely dead) son was stronger than any lasting relationship she could've maintained with her husband and her daughter, their only surviving child. That's bleak as hell, but it suited the tone of the film (which was never particularly optimistic to begin with).

It's kinda hard to view a mythical tiger as a soul-eating antagonist. Largely because "Tigers Are Not Afraid" (a film that uses tiger imagery in a positive light) still hangs heavy in my mind.

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Two things in this movie that really caught my attention was the cinematography and the acting.

The Cinematography was great. If I could, I would had given a 10 just for that. And the makeup, that was also really good. It was realistic and really detailed.

Second is the acting. Shin Rin Ah, she was absolutely amazing. I really liked how she performed. From the beginning of the movie you get drawn into her character, because of the way she portrayed it. She is going to be an amazing actor in the future.
And Lee Joon Hyuk. Even though he had a short screen time, I loved his part. Actually got me scared a little, at first.

If we talk about the story, then I would say that it is lacking in places. There are parts in the movie that has nothing to do with the story. And a lot information wasn't given. You kind of have to guess your way around it. Also ending wasn't really satisfying for me, cause it still leaves me with questions.
Nothing major.

Its a good movie for a one time watch, if your looking for something new to try out.

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The acting in this film is exceptional. I love when supernatural legends are used to tell a very real story. In this case, it was the grief of losing a child. Basically, it's this fear we see engulfing the main characters. As a kid the vicious tiger who mimics human voices was a story told to me by my grandma (it's strange the stuff that sticks to you) and I remember being so terrified I honestly don't know why you'd tell a kid such a story lol tradition ugh no one in my family was thinking for themselves clearly. Anyway, I just mentioned this because this film is basically what horror you envision when you hear of something so dreadful. It's terrifying and the grief underneath is very relatable. But it is very much horror, so definitely be careful if you're easily scared.

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Do Not Trust What You Hear

Not to be dramatic but I'm still sitting here looking at the screen like: O_O
I mean... how can I not be? I wanted to give this movie 10 stars so freaking bad!! It hurts to not give it 10 stars but I just have so many unanswered questions! And I want to rate it less than 8 stars because of that, but in complete honesty, I can't. This movie, even though it left me with tons of questions, was so so sooooo good!! If you have been a follower of mine for a while, you know I have a weak spot for anything horror. If it's horror and I get my hands on it, you know I have to see it. So when this bad boy popped up on my VIKI, you know I had to jump on it (though at this time VIKI still has it as "coming soon") that being said, I hunted down other places to watch it (and I included them in the description for those who want to watch it as well!)
This was a movie I just couldn't wait to see. I don't know if it was the cover or the description but I needed to watch it ASAP... who knows... maybe the Mimic was in my ear telling me to watch it. Dun dun dunnnnnn.

Can I talk about the acting for a minute? I haven't seen these actors before (to my knowledge) but I'll tell you, all the actors will stick with me. Even the ones who had tiny parts made a huge impact. When it comes to small parts I tend to forget someone fairly easy because they just don't deliver that "OOF!!" acting. But whoever cast these actors needs a raise... As so do the actors. Lol, They alone need 10 stars each.

As for the storyline, wow.... I couldn't look away for a second. I was hooked the moment it started playing and it captivating to say the least. Though I won't lie, I was really hoping it would explain more into the reason behind the happenings or tell a bit more of the lore. It gave us a bit of needed information but I feel like a lot of people won't understand unless they know the lore of Jangsan Tiger. And who doesn't know it? Me. Who is going to search it out? Right-o! .. Me again. Mainly because the gosh damn captivity it has over me! It feels kinda weird how drawn I feel to this... But YOLO! Haha okay that's beside the point, but still.

Watching this movie has cleared up a few things for me, I will never get over my fear of mirrors and I would probably follow a child into hell even if people are screaming at me to stop... Damn those maternal instincts.

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When you make your characters dumb because you have no other idea how to progress the plot. That's the story of this movie.

I just couldn't comprehend how stupid the characters were. They were making dumb decisions for the sake of plot and I could not take it. While in the second half I could excuse the wife and her odd behavior, her decisions in the first 30 minutes have no explanation. Min Ho was not better, probably worse. He knew his wife's condition, and mother's dementia. He was literally asking for trouble when he ignored the problem in the first place.

Last 30 minutes? Literally comedy. I did not laugh so bad in quite some time. Especially one mirror scene - it was gold. The intent was probably to scare me, but ain't with stuff like that. They just... went too far. I always say it with horrors: sometimes showing less is more.

The acting was really good. Especially impressed with Shin Rin Ah's performance. Truly chilling. I mean, it's not that hard to make kids seem creepy, but she was especially good at it.

The movie was shot in a beautiful way. Some editing could have been better, especially closer to the ending, but all in all the quality of the production was good.

Overall, the movie felt lazy. The idea behind it was entertaining and interesting, since I adore all the horror folklore based movies, but the presentation was quite... messy. And I don't even want to talk about that ending.

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Absolutely Ridiculous

This movie is terrible. That's it. That's all!

The Mimic has a good concept but the the execution of the movie is just dumb. The FL/mother's actions throughout the film were nonsensical and yes I understand she's mentally unstable and that she is grieving the loss of a child. She is warned mutiple times not to trust the apparition and time and again she chose the opposite! MADE NO SENSE. I felt like she didn't even care for her daughter who was alive and well (well maybe I'm really not sure she survived the night!). She totally abandoned her in the end.

The only positive thing I have to say is that the young actress Shin Rin Ah, was fantatsic.

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