A staple of cinema is the horror story: possession, corruption, soul-trading. You name it and horror is going to give it to you. For his first feature film, writer/director Hyun Moon-seop utilizes the well-worn path of demon possession in his Korean horror thriller Devils Stay (사흘). It had a brief theatrical release in the U.S. in December 2024 and now comes home, albeit with a barebones physical release that does few favors for the straight-forward, trope-filled tale, even as its few impressive flourishes beg for attention.
Lee Re as So-mi in DEVILS STAY. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Despite the heart transplant surgery going well, Dr. Cha’s (Park Shin-yang) daughter So-mi (Lee Re) doesn’t survive. Over the course of the traditional three-day funeral process, Dr. Cha keeps hearing his daughter’s voice, seeing her moving, and no one believes him. What Dr. Cha does realize is that it’s something else that beckons him and that upon the third day it will take form on Earth. Despite a previous attempt by Father Ban (Lee Min-ki) to expel the force within So-mi in life, the father may be the only hope of stopping the force, but only if he can dispel his own demons and get Dr. Cha to realize his daughter is truly gone. Two tasks so insurmountable it makes sense to have the souls of all life on Earth hang in the balance.
L-R: Park Shin-yang as Dr. Cha, Lee Re as So-mi, and Lee Min-ki as Father Ban in DEVILS STAY. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Devils Stay is about as complex as it is simple: girl is possessed, girl dies, girl becomes host, and a member of the family (alongside the priest who failed her) tries to set things right. Where the script from Hyun excites is few, but makes an impression. The film opens with the exorcism in full-gear and, once complete, a flash-back occurs to illustrate the connection between Cha and his daughter — an important element which will serve as the guide for all of Cha’s choices moving forward. Using a specific moment in time prior to the heart surgery, prior to the possession, is not just about seeing how Cha is anchored in the past, but about seeing how all of his choices in the film are born out of this one moment. It’s a powerful anchor for the narrative and the repetitious use doesn’t interrupt the flow of the narrative so much as reinforce why Cha makes the choices (given the evidence in front of him) that he does. That we know we’re watching a horror film means that we know he’s making the wrong choices, his love for his child being used against him and those who would help him prevent disaster.
Another element that surprises is the use of misdirection, a common staple of the subgenre, so it delights when it gets pulled off well. It’s rote when the evil force tricks the protagonist(s) into hurting someone else through the use of a fugue state or distorted reality, but Hyun occasionally integrates what Cha sees and presents it as reality so that the reveal of a deception causes the audience to be on their guard. Unfortunately, moments like these, wherein Cha’s parental instincts are weaponized against him, are so rarely executed in a clever manner that there’s virtually no tension whatsoever in the film.
This, sadly, makes up the bulk of the experience. With the exception of a slightly non-linear structure and a few inspired uses of misdirection, you know all the beats of this film before you’re finished with the in media res opening sequence. We know that Ban needs to overcome his personal experience with being possessed in order to be of help to Cha and we know that Cha will literally fight the Devil if it means getting his daughter back. Everything that happens in between, from the fake-outs of So-mi being alive post-mortem, the violence done to religious leaders in defiance of the evil force, and even the way that Cha can’t see past his own failures to realize what’s happening, all of it is so familiar with the subgenre that one is forced to wait for something surprising to happen in order to reengage with the material. A meat and potatoes tale in any genre can satisfy, as long as it has enough unique elements to justify the time spent. Unfortunately, the lack of inspiration gives a stronger impression than anything — cinematography, special effects, themes of parenthood and redemption — might seek to inspire.
Top-Bottom: Park Shin-yang as Dr. Cha and Lee Re as So-mi in DEVILS STAY. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Making matters worse, there’s quite literally nothing on the home release to allow further investigation of the film. This isn’t entirely surprising as many U.S. releases of international titles are often scaled down for reasons one can only presume are rights-related, but it still frustrates. Sometimes having the better understanding of a filmmaker’s vision or how a project was made enables the film itself to be better appreciated. By leaving out such materials, anyone who engages with this edition is left with nothing to explore, investigate, or learn from beyond their own reaction to the presentation. At the very least, the video and sound are as reliable as ever on the Well Go USA-distributed film.
L-R: Lee Min-ki as Father Ban and Lee Re as So-mi in DEVILS STAY. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
With so many options on physical formats or streaming to choose from, recommending Devils Stay is not something one can do. Not when there are films like The First Omen (2024), Get Away (2024), and The Devil and the Daylong Brothers (2025) that you can watch now while waiting for Clown in a Cornfield (2025) and Good Boy (2025) to land in theaters. Heck, you can even revisit 2005’s Constantine in a lovely new 4K UHD edition. Each of these play within the well-worn framework of horror while bringing something unique and inspired that fires up the audience’s neurons or, at the very least, entertains through creative execution. There’s too little of that in Devils Stay to make one feel as though the brief 90+ minute investment is worth it. Time is too precious for that.
Devils Stay Special Features:
- Well Go USA Previews
- Theatrical Trailer
Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital March 18th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Well Go USA Devils Stay webpage.
Final Score: 1.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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