Cho: A Tale of Voodoo (2025) by August Aguilar

Director: August Aguilar

Year: 2025

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Supernatural

Plot:

Wanting to get a secret off his chest, an attorney relates a story about how his marriage to a woman starts a string of bad luck and bizarre occurrences that are soon revealed to be a voodoo curse enacted on him for a perceived sleight against the family, and how he stopped it.

Review:

Overall, this was a rather fun and somewhat chilling genre effort. Among the brighter aspects of this one is the way it immediately throws us into the concept of the curse and how it all comes together. With the brief introduction to their relationship and lifestyle before being subjected to the conflict that sets everything in motion, there’s an immediate sense of the danger depicted, where we see the results of the curse take effect on both of them. From unnatural behavior and personality shifts to encounters with supernatural creatures and even being left with bizarre wounds, the setup here provides this with a solid atmosphere in the first half that starts building up nicely over the course of the running time.

That sets up the wild finale that feels somewhat underwhelming compared to the first half, where it falls into the explanation for everything but keeps the action down as a result. There’s quite a lot to like here with the series of explanations provided on how the curse comes together, with quite a lot of impressive elements that constitute how the curse has affected them, yet it is a lot more of a downbeat energy to accomplish this than what it attempted before. Those were far more exciting and energetic compared to the more laidback finale that’s far more about setting up the means of stopping the curse and appeasing the one who enacted it, leaving this with an obvious, if unimpactful, lowered energy.

Overview: ***.5/5

A rather fun if slightly flawed genre effort, there's enough to like here that keeps this enjoyable that makes for a fun time even with several factors here keeping it down on the whole. Those with an interest in this kind of genre effort or who are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like, while most others might want to heed caution.