What makes Yeon Sang-ho a pillar of a pillar of contemporary zombification comes from a fan-first approach. Studying the patterns of genre greats like George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead) is one of the curricula that’s led his newest high-octane outbreak Colony to an A-grade apocalypse. On the 10th anniversary of his zombie grail Train To Busan, Yeon’s done it again- with an evolving rulebook, and an updated source of fear.
Colony ain’t no re-hash of the sub-genre that refuses to die. Yeon holds his undead appreciation parallel to his strengths of massive, orchestrated chaos, making the film a familiar fight that strikes a concern about the unnatural, exponential growth of technology. In an interview with director Yeon, he confirms his thesis is aligned with the Romero approach of keeping the sub-genre fresh by incorporating timely, societal fears underneath the rotting flesh.
“Our times change, the people’s minds change, but we have our own contemporary fears, so zombie genre films continuously reflect new horrors. They visualize and embody what we are going through.” From writer, director Yeon’s perspective, we shouldn’t be so willing to join the groupthink machine. Let’s just say Colony gives an extremely… textured warning as to why individuality is sacred.
Ground Zero’s Perfect Scenario
Behind the zombie threat is Chains Bio- a major bio tech corp with an industry breakthrough; a bioengineered, organic (-ish?) substance that regenerates dead tissue with cell communication. Professor Se Jeong (Gianna Jun) attends a company presentation at their headquarters with an opportunity to grow her career. Under the nose of thousands inside, South Korean authorities are hit with a tip on a planned act of bioterrorism. The sociopathic, too smart for his own good, ex- employee Seo Yeong Cheol (Koo Kyo-hwan) spent his leave brooding over revenge. He’s planned to disrupt Chains Bio by unleashing the unfinished product from the inside, with the only known vaccine injected into himself. The entirety of the high rise is placed on lockdown; the company HQ, the commercial mall below, and everyone inside.
The survivors ensemble starts here. A retired track-star, a high-school bully, a mall cop, his disabled, yet virtuous sister, and a few others who will ultimately fall to the animalistic aggression of the infection. Colony lacks emotional depth compared to Train to Busan, but diverse character backgrounds place a mark for Yeon’s classic cynicism towards human behavior in peril. The dialogue-fueled moments are filled with stress-inducing interpersonal clues as to how the group’s phenotypes react to what could be the end, oftentimes counteracting survival in general. Until the halfway mark, it’s not the most obvious who the true protag of the ensemble is. In this case, it’s a welcome feature for the uncertainty of an apocalyptic situation.
Supporting her background in biochemistry, Professor Se Jeong’s cold and calculated character makes her a key player for the group’s survival, especially against Yeong Cheol’s impudent and manipulative aura. Koo Kyo-hwan, a frequent cast last seen in Yeon’s Peninsula, gives a performance worthy of a sucker punch between the eyes at the start of every scene.
A New Zombie Rulebook
The fact that human skill and behavior can’t be centrally controlled or monitored is a design flaw. That’s Yeong Cheol’s hill, but as the keeper of the vaccine, he doesn’t have to die on it. That’s what the public is for. Evolution is the name of Colony’s game, but let me nip this now- the victims haven’t died, but yes, according to Yeon, they’re zombies. Just add a “what if?” to what we know about the anomaly. What if the infected could share information? What if they could use that to damn near think critically?
It’s clear the filmmaker has been asking that second question concerning advanced tech. “My personal fear for the current society is that we think too collectively. If it’s over emphasized, then how about our individuality? It can be rendered powerless.” Yeon mashes the classic monster with the manifestation of AI- strengthening its objective analysis throughout the two hour runtime. The answer to the group’s survival isn’t as straightforward as “destroy the brain” like the 80s taught us. Like our relationship with corporate carelessness- it’s complicated. Now, no two infected can be dealt with in the same way. When one weakness is identified, the conglomerate sends out patch notes to eradicate the error across the entire hoard.
Advanced Tech Morphs the Infected into Fantastic Turmoil
The title hints to the new zombie rulebook. The infected hivemind operates with the synchronization of a colony of ants, and looks as damp and freaky as the fungus they represent. The collaboration between choreographer Jeon Young and a team of professional dancers (who really should be considered pro-contortionists) creates a nightmare pandemic so painful, viewers might consider limiting some permission settings on ChatGPT.
Train to Busan and Peninsula were praised for their chaos direction, but for his biggest production yet, Colony’s large-scale organized turmoil is impressive, thought provoking, and worthy of a visceral reaction. Turns out, throwing a generous layer of mucus over a feral fungal network triples the violence of this very effective way to say “Fuck AI.”