Films about cults, although a phenomenon that has tormented particularly countries like Japan and Korea, are not exactly so common, despite the fact that some great titles, as in the case of “Rebirth” by Izuru Narushima do exist. Choi Jeong-min, in his fourth feature, tries to fill this gap with a film that aims at presenting the phenomenon as realistically as possible, although retaining its dramatic premise from beginning to end.

Myeong-seon defected from North Korea with blind, elderly Sin-taek, the leader of the Hwashin Church who worship the God of Light and insist that they can resurrect dead people. Myeong-seon is actually in with Sin-take for this reason, since her son died a while ago and she believes the man can resurrect him. The two live a rather hard life, in a rundown house, with the girl working in a restaurant, trying to attract more people into the cult,...