Some movies are termed 'good' since they have a compelling narrative and a director who knows exactly what he is doing. Train to Busan is exactly that.
This is a zombie apocalypse movie on the surface, which wastes no time in explaining why people started to turn into zombies, with no revelation of a cure once infected or how zombies can be killed. Rather it prioritizes their fight for survival, because the train is speeding away to Busan.
This is not just a zombie movie, but also a movie about honor, family, society and politics: portraying a deep critique of human nature.
One particular scene shows humans fighting zombies on one end of a compartment, while on the other end human fighting humans. Both fights are about stopping desperate creatures from entering into their territories. It is in the same scene where you can’t help but draw parallel with rising anti-immigrant sentiments all around the world. In the end, the good, the bad, all perish with no fairness as in our real world.
I wondered how they could end this zombie flick once little Su-an had to bid a heart-wrenching adieu to her zombified father. That particular scene out of all shook my soul in the worst way possible. But I couldn’t have asked for a better finish to all the emotions being tugged from end to end.
The characters are well formed and portrayed. The setup was amazing.
All in all, I enjoyed this movie.