[Film Review] The Ancestral (2021)

If you think a haunted house is scary, imagine that your house is built on top of a problematic psychiatric hospital. Ancestral (2021) is a Vietnamese film directed and written by Le-Van Kiet who is well known for his film, Furie (2019) and recent release, The Princess (2022). There is a lot that happens within this film and because of that viewers might find it hard to digest as it unfolds; however, it also allows for a lot of insight into the different themes Kiet is trying to explore.

Despite the complicated narrative, the sister’s performances are well done and hold a lot of emotional arcs of being a big sister, balancing the well-being of their childhood while managing adults’ decisions they have no say in. Ancestral holds strong similarities to other films like A Tale of Two Sisters (2003), two sisters reliant on each other as they balance their relationship towards their father and newfound female (stepmom-like) figure all the while dealing with potential ghosts rooted in traumatic encounters. In addition to this, there is strong clear commentary and dialogue around mental health practice.

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As familial trauma becomes more of a focus in horror films it is important to recognize the balance of craftily placed symbolism and the obvious. There are no subtleties that come from this film, the explanation behind one of the family’s genetic predispositions to paralysis and the psychiatric hospital, is explained extensively. There is a clear psychological literature around paralysis, it's clear that an interest in how traumatic memories, paralysis, and nightmares are related to each other is the catalyst for creating this haunted narrative. This is not a loaded critique but an observation that often a lot of horror films—especially recently— have been playing and cinematically expanding psychological phenomena.

Ancestral seems to contribute to a growing interest in narrative around not experimentation of the body but of the mind. This film focuses on a psychiatric institute that is hidden underneath a house to mask the unique therapy that is administered to patients who are clearly taken advantage of. Pseudo-science experimentation on the body is not an unfamiliar territory explored in horror films (gene splicing, creating animal humanoids, mad scientists, etc.) therefore what is one to say there can't be such exploration and semi-pseudo psychology then at play within the horror genre as well? It is interesting, as one who studies media psychology and the representation of mental health/psychology in media, to see this area in horror expand (the psychiatric mad scientist, pseudo-psychology, traumatic paranormal phenomenon, mind control, etc.) in conjunction with a societal effort to be more mental health aware. Though there is always an immediate concern when such depictions or relations are made with mental illness/psychology and the paranormal, this allows the characters to experience a creative unpacking.

Overall, there is more to be explored within the film The Ancestral (2021). There are cultural relationships with mental health, grief, family, and monstrous ghosts that I believe haven’t been completely recognized and hope to see more people come to bear witness.

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