OCN’s medical exorcism drama is more about love than horror

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) — An exorcist and a doctor, who, by nature, seem completely incompatible, join forces together for one goal — to protect the ones that they care about.

“Priest” is the cable movie channel OCN’s upcoming television series aimed at further consolidating its reputation for creating original TV shows of specific genres, ranging from criminal to medical to supernatural ones, on top of producing Korean remakes of popular foreign series, such as “Life on Mars.”

In this drama, the network has taken one step further to make South Korea’s first medical exorcism show.

At a press promotional event in Seoul on Monday, producer Kim Jong-hyun said “Priest” is different from “The Guest,” the network’s other exorcism series that ended on Nov. 1, in that the previous show combined Korean shamanism and exorcism, while “Priest” is closer to the West’s exorcism shows.

“Our show deals with two genres — medical drama and exorcism. It also has many entertaining elements such as action and family love,” Kim said.

“It is frightening not because of the evils, but because of the fears that you might lose your loved ones. We talk about family love in every episode … Ultimately it is about family.”

This photo provided by OCN shows three cast members of “Priest” posing for photos during a media event in Seoul on Nov. 12, 2018. (Yonhap)

The drama centers around supernatural episodes happening in a Catholic hospital, where doctor Han Eun-ho, played by Jung Yu-mi, works together with two priests, Oh Soo-min (Yeon Woo-jin) and Moon Ki-sun (Park Yong-woo), who perform exorcisms in order to save lives.

With different life paths, values and beliefs, the three can’t see eye to eye with each other in the beginning, but ultimately set aside their fundamental differences and join forces together.

“Whether they are a priest or a doctor, they have one thing in common, which is they have a very strong will to save people from demons,” Jung said. “It is an exorcism drama but also a medical one. There are many realistic surgery scenes. Viewers can enjoy two different genres in one show.”

Park also emphasized the drama’s subject.

“It is about love. Both the sides — those who perform exorcisms or those who are being performed on to evict the demons out of their bodies — are all heartbroken and suffer from the loss of love.”

Over the years, the network has successfully established itself as a pioneer in producing well-made TV series. This year alone, it has aired eight series — six originals such as “Children of a Lesser God” and “Player” and two remakes, “Mistress” and “Life on Mars.”

It will be closely watched by the entertainment industry whether OCN’s latest attempt will get a good reception and successfully add more diversity to the Korean drama scene.

The new weekend show is set to premiere at 10:20 p.m. on Nov. 24.

This image provided by OCN shows a poster for “Priest.” (Yonhap)