GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
InformationRap
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Bea Swanson
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Kien Navarro
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Bezenby
It seems to me like in the wake of tarnished US versions of cool Eastern horror the entire genre has been tainted. The original versions of The Grudge, Ring and Dark Water are classics, but these newer eastern horrors are not up to scratch at all...see this one, and Double Vision, for instance...Hey - if I went to an orphanage to pick a child, I'd pick the weirdest one too! Wouldn't anyone? Well, no...but the reason I would write down for getting an orphan would be more along the lines of 'must be able to go to off license' or 'must be silent at all times'. I'm sure if I went to the orphanage it could well be plausible that I would emerge with a kid, who even though he is good at drawing, thinks his dead mum has been reincarnated as a tree. Not even that - he thinks his mum is the acacia tree in his new family's back garden! And here starts the yawn fest that is Acacia. After half an hour I wasn't sure whether the film was supposed to be horror or not. Seriously. I was rather confused. It just seemed that there was this very moody kid, his neurotic new mother and crazed dad, and equally weird and annoying grandparents. The kid is too weird to like, but the family try anyway, even though all his affection goes to the acacia in the back garden. Surprise - a family grown babe arrives! Cue jealousy and weirdness, then the strange kid goes missing and the acacia tree starts killing people through it's leaves and protective ant army. Cue me starting to fall asleep, only to wake up to find the husband raping his wife for some reason (explained in the film, but I'll leave it out)... At one point the kid manages to:Set fire to a shed while being inside it and emerge unburned. His new mother doesn't even bother asking whyAnd also:The kid manages to break a glass patio door with a beetle. Explain that.Well, if you want to see something boring - feel free. I'd avoid to be honest.
HumanoidOfFlesh
"Acacia" stars Hye-jin Shim and Jin-guen Kim as a married couple unable to conceive a child.The husband is a doctor and the wife spends her time judging student art and knitting.Things change when the couple adopts six year old Jin-seong,a mysterious boy obsessed with drawing pictures of an acacia tree that he believes is the reincarnation of his dead mother.Soon the wife becomes pregnant and Jin-seong becomes more unhappy.On one rainy night he disappears mysteriously..."Acacia" is a slow-moving horror film with plenty of creepy atmosphere.It's a psychologically spooky little horror flick with a supremely dark score.The film delivers a few unexpected surprises and is wonderfully shot and photographed,so if you are a fan of Asian horror you can't miss it.8 out of 10.
BennyM
This movie has an original premise, but ultimately winds up a little too confused about where it wanted to go. The storytelling, which starts off with fine, mood-filled, dwelling shots, veers off into a style more reminiscent of standard psycho-thrillers as the conclusion draws near. One scene in particular (*SPOILER*: the death of the father-in-law) jars with the visual style right up to this point and seems to mark a clear break in the narrative. The first hour is absolutely riveting, though, and I'll certainly want to see other films by Ki-Hyung Park.
Dockelektro
... there's a mixed feeling while watching "Acacia", a family thriller with flirts to the horror genre. Here, a married couple adopts a boy, who they see as the angel to light their lives. But soon they have a child of their own, and their adoptive one isn't happy at all... Cleverly using its shots, this is a superbly framed picture which at times is really creepy without ending up too gratuitous. Editing, however, ends up confusing more than helpful, and even after the final denouement, it's still a bit confusing. But it isn't a bad movie at all, instead it's a solid exercise with some pretty scary stuff. Very interesting indeed, and a proof that there is always an alternate way to shoot this kind of material.
