Skonflix Overview & Editorial Review
When a young boy named Hee-joon becomes possessed by a powerful, malicious demonic entity that doctors and traditional medicine fail to treat, two determined Catholic nuns step forward to perform a dangerous, forbidden exorcism. Sister Junia, a bold and resolute nun who refuses to abandon the suffering boy despite severe opposition from church leadership, recruits Sister Michaela, a younger nun who harbors deep internal conflicts and personal skepticism. As the malignant spirit inside Hee-joon grows increasingly volatile and violent, the duo must navigate institutional church politics, medical skepticism, and opposition from Father Paolo, a psychiatrist priest who believes the boy suffers purely from a severe mental health disorder. Pushing beyond traditional religious boundaries and risking their own spiritual salvation, the two women combine faith, sheer willpower, and ancient esoteric rituals, locking themselves in a desperate psychological and supernatural battle against an ancient evil that threatens to consume everyone involved before the ritual can be completed.
Directed by Kwon Hyeok-jae (Countdown), Dark Nuns (2025) is a South Korean supernatural occult thriller produced by Zip Cinema and distributed by Next Entertainment World. Serving as a female led spiritual spinoff to the hit 2015 Korean box office thriller The Priests, the production team designed the film around intense psychological tension, gothic religious iconography, and grounded physical horror. Filmed across atmospheric indoor set builds and historic religious institutions in South Korea, the cinematography used shadow heavy lighting, muted color palettes, and claustrophobic framing to heighten the feeling of dread surrounding the exorcism process.
Releasing in movie theaters in January 2025, the film stars superstar Song Hye-kyo as Sister Junia alongside Jeon Yeo-been as Sister Michaela, with Lee Jin-wook playing Father Paolo and Moon Woo-jin portraying the possessed boy Hee-joon. Cinema audiences and occult horror fans praised the feature for Song Hye-kyo's commanding dramatic return to the big screen, the strong dynamic between the two female leads, and the fresh thematic focus on female agency within rigid religious institutions. Combining hair raising demonic encounters with emotional depth, the theatrical release proved to be an exciting, box office succeeding addition to the Asian supernatural horror subgenre.