Summary

Found footage films tap into the fear of realism, with
Incantation
showcasing a terrifying folk horror story rooted in Taiwanese culture.

Incantation
explores deep themes of guilt, negligence, and the consequences of religious beliefs in a chilling and engaging manner.
This underrated film balances scares with a rich backstory, breaking the fourth wall to draw viewers into the movie.

There’s no doubt that found footage films have been very popular since the conception of the format. Found footage is framed under a veil of realism based on the ethos that “everything you’re seeing has happened to an unfortunate victim.” And while other subgenres in horror are also functional in scaring people, audiences typically love a horror film based on a true story. Imagine seeing that true story, and you’ll get the definition of found footage films.

Netflix’s 2022 film Incantation, directed by Kevin Ko and written by Ko and Chang Che-wei, is an excellent example of a found-footage film that follows every rule of the horror subgenre and is a terrifying horror film. It doesn’t waste much time building its realistic setting because it doesn’t need to. The Taiwanese horror film is all about the execution of its premise, a couple of great performances, and a terrifying presentation of folklore that will leave you curious about the culture portrayed in the film.

Released in 2022, Incantation became one of the highest-grossing films of the year in Taiwan, and Netflix audiences seemed to love it. Nevertheless, people quickly forgot about it, as it often happens with foreign horror films released on streaming services. We decided to jump back a couple of years, give it a rewatch, and experience an intense horror journey that will stay with you for some time after watching it, and that’s something not often said with modern horror films.

What Is Incantation About?

Incantation is the story of Li Ronan, a woman who has managed to regain custody of her daughter after she was in psychiatric care. Now completely recovered, she seeks to reconnect with the child whose behavior is the same as every other child. She’s playful, always asks questions, and has imaginary friends. Ronan records all this with all kinds of cameras because she wants to document this process for Dodo to witness later.

Then, the film goes into flashback mode, and we find out what happened years before to Li Ronan, her boyfriend Dom, and Dom’s cousin Yuan when they were recording an episode of their online series. What they recorded was a ritual of the Yunnan religion, one that involved child sacrifice and worshipping an ancient god. The footage becomes damaged beyond repair, and Ronan, who’s revealed to be pregnant, is forced to give up the child.

Related Best International Found Footage Horror Movies You Need to Watch Next The found footage trope quickly grew threadbare in American productions, but a few international horror movies are still doing it right.

Now, jump to the present, and Dodo has become seriously ill. Ronan desperately seeks help and even seeks the advice of a non-traditional medicine man. Dodo gets worse after Ronan doesn’t comply, and a violent murder ends the life of the medicine man and his wife. Ming, the man in charge of foster care, also helps by restoring the footage that captured what happened years ago to Dom and Yuan, but he also dies. Violently. Ultimately, Ronan is forced to explore her past to see if she can get some help for Dodo, but some doors and deities are better left undisturbed.

Not only is Incantation a truly scary horror film. It’s also a great depiction of sober themes that are seldom present in the usually thin storylines of found footage. Ronan’s story is an engaging portrayal of guilt over the estranged relationship with her daughter. Her desperation is key to the film’s conclusion, but it’s also a relative aspect of negligence that’s not precisely confirmed, but it’s one of the film’s most powerful themes. She wasn’t ready to be a mother, and a good question is if everything would have happened if she hadn’t sought the rekindling with Dodo.

Religious values and religious culture are also deeply expanded in the film. In the same vein as horror peers The Wailing and The Medium, religion is both a cause and consequence for Ronan and Dodo’s downfall. It’s all about the mystery of deities, folklore, fantasy, and everything you can think of from an agnostic perspective. One would almost ask what would happen if Ronan didn’t believe in the entity that clouded over her daughter.

Incantation could have easily been a horror endeavor with nothing but jump scares, but one can tell the writers and the director care enough about it. This kind of passion is often part of a filmmaker’s drive to listen to his influences and stay within the boundaries of the genre.

Found footage films, and horror in general, can be made in two ways. They can be thoroughly premeditated spectacles with a visionary behind the camera whose only intention is generating scares galore with resources like well-planned jump scares, good performances, and disturbing imagery. However, found footage films can also work with a backdrop of lore that can be unsettling on its own, and audiences don’t get to see that enough.

Related The 15 All-Time Scariest Moments in Found Footage Horror Movies The found footage subgenre has become one of the most popular in horror. Let’s look at the scariest moments in the subgenre.

Incantation works in the latter, with a backstory that’s as interesting and effective as any scare you can think of. The film also breaks the fourth wall, asking and pleading with the viewer to contribute and participate in doing their best to avoid the curse. Li Ronan asks the viewer to engage in the film from its opening scene. Yes, this doesn’t exactly follow the concept of “the footage was found some time later,” but this narrative loophole is forgivable, considering the context of the film.

Today, found footage films are mostly developed by independent film studios that make good use of the budget structure of the format. Netflix bet on the story, and Kevin Ko’s execution and Incantation became the most successful Taiwanese horror film ever. Still, outside Netflix, the film feels underseen. It was underrated and underappreciated back then, but luckily, it’s one of the most rewatchable horror films in recent years. That is if you like to be scared. Incantation is streaming on Netflix.