Disenchanted with the claustrophobic city life and complicated by a few 'incidents' at work, beautiful career girl Hae-won returns to her childhood island home of Mundo only to find cruelty and hostility among the insular villagers. Her friend Bok-nam, Victim of continued domestic violence and sexual abuse, having tried to escape the island with her daughter on many occasions, has only become victim to more Tyranny from her husband and the oppressive community.

Hae-won's arrival seems to bring a new dynamic to the dysfunctional relationships among the islanders and the violence quickly escalates out of control with the sickened Bok-nam taking the matter literally into her own hands after the death of her daughter. Haunted by secrets of their joint past, and with a seemingly reluctant to help Hae-won, both girls soon find themselves trapped in a bloody world of insane vengeance. 

Directed by Jang Cheol-su and released by Optimum Home Entertainment, Bedevilled's Award winning Screenplay is both emotive and gripping and although the outset of the film seems quite typical for a Korean thriller the film surprisingly develops into an intense psychological horror with insights into the nature of impulsive killing.  

There are some great moments in the camera work too, creative angles and wide shots are set against the beauty of the island, serving to empathise the brutality of the violence where the use of light and dark, quick cuts and steady cam shots echo contrasts in the film's gender -roles, between city and rural life and certainly between the supposedly clean-cut Hae-won and down-trodden Bok-nam.

With an interesting albeit slow-developing plot and superbly executed performances, Bedevilled is a thoroughly compelling and enjoyable tale.  While some viewers may need to turn away during its many unsubtle moments, its savage and direct nature will keep even the most weak-stomached audience captivated, and although the clunky stop-start ending seems to unfold forever, one still comes away with a feeling of complete viewing satisfaction.

Extras

Released on Blu-ray this week Bedevilled features a standard if not minimal array of extras including only behind the scenes footage and a couple of trailers.