Dark Nuns (2025) Review

“Dark Nuns” Theatrical Poster

Director: Kwon Hyeok-Jae
Cast: Song Hye-Kyo, Jeon Yeo-Bin, Lee Jin-Uk, Heo Jun-Ho, Moon Woo-Jin, Kim Guk-Hee
Running Time: 114 min. 

By Paul Bramhall 

It’s been a decade since the release of 2015’s The Priests, a movie for which its Korean title directly translates to Dark Priests, an approach which has been taken quite literally for its 2025 sequel – Dark Nuns. Despite The Priests being a straight forward exorcism flick, the fact that the genre was largely ignored in Korean cinema 10 years ago (in my review from the time of its release I mentioned “it’s surprising that we haven’t seen more movies from the local industry pitting the church against some sort of evil spirit”) made it an unexpected hit, leading to a slew of Korean exorcism movies in the succeeding years. Within the limitations the genre operates in (person becomes possessed – meet member of the church with tragic backstory/complicated past – perform exorcism), it’s a legitimate question to wonder if Dark Nuns can do anything to differentiate itself from the now overpopulated exorcism landscape.

At least from a character perspective, as the title alludes to, it can. So far in the Korean takes on the genre the exorcisms are always performed by male priests, so swapping things up to have the heavy lifting performed by a pair of nuns makes for a welcome change. Song Hye-kyo (Hwang Jin Yi, A Reason to Live) steps into the lead role, returning to the big screen for the first time since 2014’s My Brilliant Life, having spent the decade in between focused on K-drama’s (including playing the lead in the highly successful Netflix series The Glory). Graced with one of the coolest introductions to a character in recent years, we meet Hye-kyo leaning against a car while calmly smoking a cigarette, as a pair of male priests attempt an exorcism in the property she’s parked outside of. When they run into trouble she throws away the cigarette, dons her habit, and strolls in with a jerrycan full of holy water to finish off the job.

Ironically in my review for the 2024 exorcism outing Devils Stay I posed the question “has there ever been an exorcism movie where the main character that’s possessed isn’t a girl!?”, and less than a year later Dark Nuns makes the answer to the question a yes. Played by Moon Woo-jin (Hijack 1971, Peninsula), when it becomes clear that the demon possessing him could be one of the powerful 12 Manifestations, the stubborn Hye-kyo realises she’s going to need some help. While The Priests marked the feature length directorial debut of Jang Jae-hyeon (adapted from his own short film The 12^th Assistant Deacon), whose gone on to make supernatural outings his modus operandi with the likes of Svaha: The Sixth Finger and Exhuma, surprisingly he hasn’t returned for the sequel.

Instead the directorial reigns have been handed over to Kwon Hyeok-jae, for which Dark Nuns marks his third time in the director’s chair, having made his debut with Troubleshooter in 2010, followed by the underseen 2023 sports drama Count. Hyeok-jae seems to acknowledge that Dark Nuns is in debt of its predecessor, and as such the events in The Priests are acknowledged in a way which ensures audiences know the movies are taking place in the same universe. The heads of the church bring up that a possession involving one of the 12 Manifestations has been successfully executed before, showing a photo of actress Park So-dam, for which The Priests offered a breakout role.

During a meeting it’s also revealed that Father Kim and Father Choi aren’t available to assist, a reference to Kim Yoon-seok and Gang Dong-won’s characters in the original. Considering his image was openly used in the publicity stills released for Dark Nuns, it’s not a spoiler to say that Gang Dong-won does turn up for a final scene cameo, much in the same style as Kim Da-mi’s appearance at the end of The Witch 2: Part 2. The Other One.

Despite the absence of Jang Jae-hyeon, the mixing of religions that plays a prevalent part in Dark Nuns – particularly that of the Catholic church and traditional Korean shamanism – feels like it has its fingerprints on it. Interestingly the original concept for the story is credited to Yim Pil-sung, the director of the likes of Hansel and Gretel and Scarlett Innocence, who hasn’t been active since helming a segment in the 2019 omnibus movie Persona. The religion mixing is initiated when Hye-kyo crosses paths with another nun working in the Catholic hospital Woo-jin is transferred to, played by Jeon Yeo-been (Harbin, Cobweb), who’s revealed to suffer from visions of spirits. In Korea such afflictions are usually viewed as a sign from the Gods that the person has been chosen to be a shaman, and despite trying to hide it, Hye-kyo picks up on her ability, recognising that many who reject the calls to be a shaman end up becoming nuns instead.

The pair ultimately come together in an attempt to save Woo-jin from the demon that’s residing inside him, assisted by a shaman protégé played by Shin Jae-hwi (In Our Prime, Strong Underdog), combining the forces of both religions to cast it out. Out of its 2-hour runtime it’s the 2^nd half that’s dedicated to the day of the exorcism, played out in a remote farm, and like so many exorcism movies is the part that also comes with an almost unavoidable feeling of familiarity. In Korean cinema specifically it seems exorcism scenes have become much tamer since the release of The Priests, which was hardly an all-out gore fest, but it at least managed to imbue a certain level of intensity along with some gruesome moments to offer up a cathartic payoff.

From a horror perspective, here the exorcism mostly relies of occasional bursts of deep voiced profanity and room shaking, as both Hye-kyo and Yeo-been throw everything at the demon that’s possessed Woo-jin to get it to reveal its name, while Jae-hwi chants shamanic rituals outside. From a visual perspective it feels like a pedestrian affair, with the most enjoyable part being Hye-kyo’s headstrong nun launching into a tirade of demeaning insults to the demon’s face, arguably beating it at its own game. It’s just a shame that, considering the strong character work that the first half focuses on to invest the audience in Hye-kyo’s mission to save Woo-jin, the actual main event itself feels like it’s been done countless times before.

It’s unfortunate, if not surprising, that the exorcism is the weakest part of Dark Nuns, as the narrative presents a number of ideas that make me wish they’d gone down a different direction all together rather than the exorcism path. The potential for both Christianity and shamanism to team up is presented effectively when Hye-hyo and Yeo-been visit a senior shaman, resulting in a shamanistic ritual being performed based on the demon originating in the sea. It even feels like Hyeok-jae throws in some black humor when the nuns attempt to recruit a shaman to join them for their own exorcism, but an imminent by-election means all of the local politicians have already booked them to perform good luck rituals for their campaigns. Ultimately though such plot threads end up being superfluous, with none of them having any real impact on the tried and tested path the narrative heads towards.

As the credits rolled on Dark Nuns I was left with the feeling there was an opportunity for a distinctly unique slant on the tale of someone who’s been possessed that needs to be saved, but that it was robbed of its potential by deciding to frame it within the unflexible confines of an exorcism movie. While it would be unfair to call it a bad movie, the familiar territory it increasingly finds itself in during the final third leave it as a serviceable if unremarkable entry into what now, 10 years after The Priests, feels like a dead horse in terms of what else can be done with the genre. Thankfully the chemistry between Hye-kyo and Yeo-been keeps it watchable, and dare I say it – based on her performance here, if Hollywood ever decides to revive the Constantine character again, perhaps Hye-kyo would be a more suitable candidate than Keanu Reeves.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10