The Divine Fury Plot Synopsis
The Divine Fury is a supernatural horror meets action movie, which deals with the universal theme of good vs evil. The dominant theme is Christian Catholicism with major stress on exorcism, stigmata and demons. The film begins with a little boy, Park Yong-hoo with a good Catholic upbringing who’s recently lost his mother and lives with his father. The father, Police Sergeant Park Ji-ung is a good man who strives to instil Christian values in his son.
The first hint of the supernatural happens when Yong-hoo’s father is killed in a bizarre accident. Years later, we see that Yong-hoo is a ruthless MMA fighter who gets an unexplained wound that only the exorcist, Father Ahn can help with. Meanwhile, Ahn is dispatched by the Vatican to handle the Dark Bishop who coincidentally can only be taken down by Yong-hoo.
Is Park Yong-hoo a godless man?
For little Yong-hoo, who’s barely coming to grips with the grief of losing his mother, the death of his father is the tipping point and traumatizes him to such an extent that he not loses faith in God but develops an intense hatred towards any symbolism connected with God.
Forward twenty years later and Park Yong-hoo (portrayed by Park Seo-Joon) is now an accomplished MMA fighter. His hatred for anything remotely connected with Christian values is so intense that when he spots a tattoo of Christ on the back of his opponent, he is filled with rage. He starts to hear voices in his head screaming for revenge for his dad, his eyes start to glow with demonic propensity and he nearly beats his opponent to death.
When Father Ahn (played by veteran actor Ahn Sung-ki) leaves his cross pendant at Yong-hoo’s home, the latter promptly chucks it into his toilet. Immediately later, he does retrieve it, cleans it and drops it outside Father Ahn’s door.
So Yong-hoo being a godless man is not that he doesn’t believe in God, but that he’s angry with God, for the loss of his father who was devout.
What changes Yong-hoo?
After his MMA fight where he nearly killed his opponent, Yong-hoo is flying back to South Korea when he suddenly develops a mysterious bleeding in his right palm. The puncture marks in his palm don’t heal, though all the medical tests show that Yong-hoo is at the peak of his health. Moreover, he is plagued by nightmares of strange demonic creatures trying to hurt him.
Finally, on the advice of his chauffeur, despite his distrust and lack of faith, he visits a 15-year-old girl-shaman, Hong-jin (played by Jo Eun-hyung). She tells him that his anger against God has allowed evil to creep into him and that ‘they’ whisper in his ears, inciting him to violence and evil.
What is the mysterious palm wound?
Yong-hoo is then directed by the girl-shaman to a church at midnight. Inside the church, Father Ahn is in the middle of an exorcism assisted by a junior priest, Father Choi (cameo role by known bestie, Choi Woo-shik).
Ahn nearly loses his life before Yong-hoo appears and in the process of trying to save the priest, stops the demon by planting his bloodied palm on the possessed man’s face on instinct. Father Ahn chucks holy water on the assailant, which finishes the exorcism.
Later, when Yong-hoo asks Father Ahn about his bloodied palm, the latter tells him that he is blessed to have developed Stigmata – a spontaneous appearance of the wound marks of the crucified Lord on a person’s body like nail wounds on the palm, and it plays a crucial role in the exorcism. Yong-hoo is surprised when the priest also mentions that Stigmata normally happens to a person with strong faith.
Who is the Dark Bishop?
Father Ahn is a Vatican emissary sent to South Korea to monitor rising demonic activity. Shortly after his first meeting with Yong-hoo, he is informed on the phone by his senior that the Dark Bishop is in Seoul and is behind these demonic activities.
It turns out that the Dark Bishop is the wealthy nightclub owner, Ji-shin (played by Woo Do-hwan). He runs a sophisticated nightclub, aptly called Babylon with a logo that reveals its satanic proclivity. Lurking in the bowels of the flashy nightclub is a cavernous temple dedicated to a cult called the ‘Sacred Serpent’ where the Dark Bishop recruits victims into Satan’s unholy legion.
The Dark Bishop’s satanic powers are immense – he can read and control the minds of the weak and sinners. His powers are first revealed in his introductory scene where he is threatened by a gangster. Unbeknownst to the gangster, Ji-shin’s face glows briefly with his demonic possession.
He smoothly sows mistrust in the gangster’s mind against his partner-in-crime, Dae-hwan. The gangster tortures and kills Dae-hwan despite his pleas of innocence. Shortly thereafter, the gangster himself is pursued by the ghost of his dead partner in an empty parking lot and dies a gruesome death.
How does Dark Bishop realise that Father Ahn is his adversary?
The Central Archdiocese requests Father Ahn to perform an exorcism on one of their church-goers, a young lady called Soo-jin (Park Ji-hun) who’s recently been possessed by a dark entity. With great difficulty, he and Yong-hoo manage to drive out the demon.
Father Ahn then goes through the young lady’s personal effects and discovers photos of her and Ji-shin. He realizes that he is the Dark Bishop he’s been looking for, who had charmed and seduced Soo-jin. When the Dark Bishop realizes that he’s losing control over Soo-jin, he performs satanic rites to re-possess her, but Father Ahn manages to finally wrest her back and save her. The Dark Bishop loses the battle but realizes that there’s a churchman who’s trying to undo his evil plans.
How does the Dark Bishop manage to get to Father Ahn?
The Dark Bishop seeks out a little boy, Ho-seok at St. Mary’s Orphanage in Paju who’s being bullied by other kids and takes control of his innocent soul. He then starts separating Father Ahn and Yong-hoo. He approaches Yong-hoo, impersonating Father Choi whom Yong-hoo had only briefly glimpsed during his first meeting with Ahn.
He creates mistrust in Yong-hoo’s mind by saying, that Ahn is in fact a demon and that he is using him. Yong-hoo ends up abandoning Ahn who is trying to exorcise Ho-seok. However, the little boy is killed in the process. After the Dark Bishop’s spell breaks, Yong-hoo rushes to Ahn and they go to see Ho-seok’s dead body. The Dark Bishop uses his powers of illusion to separate the two and wounds Father Ahn.
How does Yong-hoo find the Dark Bishop?
Yong-hoo rushes the dying Father Ahn to his residence where the real Father Choi tends to his mentor with prayers. Before Yong-hoo leaves, Choi gifts the former with a clergy shirt blessed by the Pope. In a surprising turn of events, Yong-hoo dresses up as a clergyman to go battle the Dark Bishop. He extracts the information of Ji-shin’s sanctuary from his former lover, Soo-jin and rushes to Babylon.
Meanwhile, the Dark Bishop has transformed his men into a legion of demons who attack Yong-hoo as he enters the nightclub. He uses his MMA skills as well as his Stigmata to destroy the forces of evil barring his way.
Why does Yong-hoo struggle while fighting the Dark Bishop?
Meanwhile, the Dark Bishop finishes his satanic rites and is transformed into a scaly demon-like creature with fangs and claws. The battle begins with the demonic creature that was Ji-shin almost defeating the mortal Yong-hoo who is nearly rendered unconscious.
Suddenly Yong-hoo is transported into another realm, where he meets the spirit of his father. His father gifts him a holy ball of flame akin to a flaming sword and sends him back. Yong-hoo awakens back into the battle zone but this time his hand is a flaming ball of fire.
In a classically choreographed duel, Yong-hoo wins the battle and the Dark Bishop is destroyed. While Yong-hoo is standing over a dying Ji-shin, the Sacred Serpent comprising of headless limbs and torsos arises from the depth of the dark pool and drags Ji-shin back into the nether world.