When a director like Yeon Sang-ho creates a film, there’s a unique excitement in the air. As a film lover, there’s no better feeling than walking into a new film crafted by a master of cinema. Sang-ho is known for creating stories that explore dark, gritty realism in dystopian worlds, with a spotlight on the societies they inhabit. With his newest feature, Colony, he returns to the zombie genre and injects new life into it in ways only he could. Thus creating a film that is skin-crawlingly brutal and action-packed.
It’s hard not to mention Sang-ho’s Train to Busan when reviewing his newest film; it’s the film that broke new ground in the zombie landscape. Zombies that have intense speed that allows them to attack in new ways. Confined locations raise the stakes, with the walls closing in and nowhere to run. But really, what Sang-ho does so well in that film is that he establishes emotional stakes through relationships and the power of sacrifices. He makes audiences feel for these characters as they are put through unimaginable horror. It’s no shock that these same aspects that made Train to Busan unique are also found in Colony. Though his new film isn’t perfect, it’s a reminder that undead action thrillers can be about much more than just blood and guts.
Colony opens with the threat of bioterrorism, with the mastermind behind it, Seo Young-cheol (Koo Kyo-hwan), having recently been let go from his job at Chains Bio. He’s an intense man with a quick-witted and dangerous personality, making it instantly believable that he would do something this extreme. As a former employee, he has some idea of how the company operates. With a big, important conference happening, Young-cheol takes this as an opportunity to enact his revenge. Inside the large building, there are more than enough people to create a deadly infectious chain reaction.
Sadly, Bio Chain employees, and even scientists like Han Kyo-seong (Go Soo) and his ex-wife, Kwon Se-jeong (Gianna Jun), have no idea of the danger they are walking into. For Se-jeong, she needs a job badly, and that’s the reason she finds herself in the crosshairs of danger. Though her time with Chains Bio CEO is cut short by his untimely death, it might just save her life in the long run. Once Young-cheol’s plan is in effect, the reality that everyone faces is grim, with high-speed infected beings lurking and learning as they go. Sang-ho adds a twist to these zombies: their minds are interlinked, making their communication skills their deadliest trait.
Se-jeong and Kyo-seong find solace in a mall, a nice nod to the genre’s father, George Romero. They attempt to help those around them and discover that the cure lies within the creator, Young-cheol; his survival directly impacts theirs. The once-married duo shares some heartfelt moments, but it’s Kyo-seong who finds new ways to evade the groups of zombies. She’s able to bring together a group consisting of a security guard (Ji Chang-wook) paired with his sister (Kim Shin-rok), a tech-savvy wheelchair user. Adding to their numbers is an off-duty police officer and a trio of teens who don’t particularly get along. Their individual stories offer touching glimpses into their fears and motivations, but the human drama doesn’t quite match the excitement of the horror aspects. While the performances, particularly Jun’s stoic yet forceful demeanor, are more than compelling to hit emotional highs, it’s the shifting focus between the group’s mission of survival and securing a cure that is dizzying.
The most unsettling aspect of Colony is the virus that almost instantaneously turns a living person into a hive-mind zombie spitting blood and covered in a slimy white goop. When someone gets one of those gnarly bites, they move in disturbing ways, with their limbs twisting and contorting into whatever position they need to be in to chase after their prey. Their movements are developed by choreographer Jeon Young, who also worked on Train to Busan; their bodies move in unnatural, unpredictable ways to anyone not tapped into their minds. Sang-ho allows them to evolve. At the beginning of the film, they can’t distinguish between cardboard cut-outs and real-life humans, but as the horde grows, so do their minds. Each time the humans trapped inside exploit a weakness, the zombies develop ways around it. The most disturbing part of their movements is when they are taking in information, throwing their heads back with their mouths agape, letting out an eerie, drawn-out guttural moan.
Gloomy as ever, Colony exudes a damp, chilled energy throughout the film. Whenever the camera shows the building from the outside, it’s mostly at night. Surrounded by onlookers wearing various layers of rain gear while standing with signs demanding the release of the people trapped inside the quarantined high-rise. Cinematographer Byun Bong-sun maintains tight control on the frame; the small spaces that the group inhabits change from time to time as the camera gets closer and closer. And when they go from a storefront in the mall to an elevator, audiences are brought right into the chaos. It’s chilly and claustrophobic, leaving me with a sense of unease, waiting for something bad to happen at each new hallway or restaurant kitchen the survivors found themselves in.
Narratively, Sang-ho hits his stride while exploring this new form of zombie and its significance. Controlled by a single host and empowered with abilities that make it almost impossible to see a way to survive an encounter. While the government wants to simply get the cure at any cost, the public screams for freedom. Colony is a collision of some of the world’s most powerful individuals fighting for control. They are willing to let innocent people die and replace their minds with something you can input information into. Even when humanity’s help is needed to overcome, human lives are seen as vessels for whatever a tech CEO or some evil genius wants to do at their bidding.
On the whole, Colony is another gory entry into the genre that Sang-ho knows so well. Expertly choreographed action and bone-chilling visuals deliver plenty of jaw-dropping moments. While the human drama crowds out the overarching narrative, there’s a timely reminder of the strength of stepping in for others during times when humanity is viewed as a pawn.
