Kuala Lampur, Sept. 19 -- Some auteurs, like Takashi Miike, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Michal Winterbottom, are effortlessly prolific, churning out a new feature every couple of years with factory-like regularity.

Some directors, like Hong Sang-soo, who's made 35 films in 30 years, are even beyond prolific. And then there are directors like Na Hong-jin.

Ever since his breakthrough with 2008's The Chaser, Na has taken his own sweet time between projects.

While The Chaser established his mastery over the gritty Korean thriller and The Yellow Sea pushed that kinetic violence to near-unbearable extremes with bigger set-pieces, it was 2016's The Wailing that solidified him as a modern master.

That film, a terrifying, hallucinatory master...