The Night Diver

Just a slight update: I am currently making my way through an absolutely enthralling horror novel that I can’t wait to finish and report on. It’s been a bit of a mission alongside my day job and other life events, but look forward to a really good review and recommendation in just a little while. Until then, I have another horror movie for us to dive into.

When I first heard of this movie, I was pretty conflicted. This is because it was A) An Asian Horror Movie and B) A found footage movie. The first point is what drew me in, because I am an absolute sucker for Asian horror movies. There is always something delightfully eerie in how they choose to explore supernatural horrors, and I can never get enough of it. However, I was never a fan of found footage horror movies. My first exposure to the genre was Paranormal Activity, and I didn’t think it was particularly good. So, I never really took the time to find any good examples of the genre, and lowkey avoided them. But now I was in a bind, because I was very much in an Asian Horror Movie mood, and this one looked very tantalizing. Furthermore, there were rumors swirling around about it being “cursed” or whatnot, mostly because of it being based off of a mysterious incident that happened in Taiwan a while back. I couldn’t help myself, so I decided to take the plunge. I would like to say, this very much is a good example of a found-footage horror movie.

There is one thing, though. The movie is absolutely rife with some grade-A trypophobia scares. So if that is something you are particularly averse to, I’d say steer clear. If not, you are in for something disgustingly special. The movie follows a woman by the name of Li Ronan, who has seemingly broken a taboo of a cult while taking care of her daughter, and now has to face the consequences of doing so. The first thing I would like to commend is the smart presentation of the found-footage content. The “clips” in the movie are basically part of a diary made by Li Ronan, documenting her experiences with her daughter. There are also other clips shown in more of a “Youtube Vlog” format that serve as a way to add more context to the events and choices being made in the movie. I actually appreciated this sort of framing, since it provided a kind of logical perspective to the clips, and it kept the story fairly easy to follow even if it does jump slightly in time to provide extra information and history for the narrative.

When starting the movie, I was hooked into it quite quickly, as there is an “incantation” being said, and then the narrator caps it off with “its fine even if you repeat in your mind”. It didn’t help that the incantation was quite the earworm. These details speak to the expertly crafted sets, videos, and details that really show this cult as something plausible in the real world. I remember reading something about a government having to release a statement that the religious iconography and details are indeed fabricated, just so people didn’t feel like they were actually taking part in some profane ritual. Honestly, I could kind of see why.

Overall, the movie is indeed a treat if you are an enjoyer of cults, Asian horror, and found-footage movies. Considering that this was the movie that brought me back into appreciated found-footage, I think that this is something quite special. The movie is expertly crafted to really draw you in and sell you on the horrors it shows, and it has some absolutely terrifying moments that come eerily close to crossing the border of the screen itself. The only slight negatives in the movie might be just some clunky moments when it comes to the time jumps and clarifying character motivations, but it doesn’t do a lot of damage to the overall quality of the movie. If anything, it does kind of play into the unknown and mysterious qualities of the supernatural. I would say this is a horror movie that most people will enjoy in its spine-chilling entirety, and it certainly warrants a watch for anyone who is into the horror movie genre.

My final rating would be: 4.5/5 Stars