Out of his depth, local police officer Jong-goo investigates a spate of killings, as well as an outbreak of madness seemingly connected to the recent arrival of a mysterious Japanese man who resides in the outskirts of the village.
What’s more, he is horrified to discover his young daughter may have fallen under the stranger’s curse.
Jong-goo calls on a charismatic shaman to free his daughter from the stranger’s dangerous influence, but the shaman’s intense exorcism ritual threatens to worsen the situation… and Jong-goo, with his world collapsing around him, realises he must confront the ultimate evil.