After presenting “Train to Busan” and its animated prequel, “Seoul Station,” at Fantasia Festival a decade ago in 2016, writer/director Yeon Sang-ho’s latest zombie mayhem was screened for the very first time in Canada at the same Montreal-born festival. Tighten your seatbelts for the insanely wild journey that is “Colony.”
Professor Se Jeong (Jun Ji-hyun) is potentially seeking a new job when attending a bio-tech conference. Unbeknownst to her, a viral outbreak is about to rapidly spread through that same building, including floors where there are numerous shoppers visiting a variety of stores. This virus is highly contagious, transforms anyone into cannibalistic monsters, and has forced the government to put the building on lockdown. The professor is trapped with a handful of survivors as the mounting chaos piles up around her.
Colony
After the worldwide success of “Train to Busan,” expectations have been set very high for Yeon Sang-ho. He manages to concoct a very clever storyline, breathing a breath of fresh air into the zombie subgenre. Without spoiling anything, he adds an innovative element to the devastating virus that complicates things for survivors tremendously, but also adding a layer of complex intelligence that only Yeon knows how. He succeeds in reuniting a distinct group of characters who, in other circumstances, wouldn’t have even looked at each other, with disparate personalities and endgoals, creating conflict among them. There will even be some of them whom the audience will change their opinion about throughout the tale, in addition to understanding the motives of all involved. Yeon, as per usual, expertly masters camera shots, rising emotional tension, as well as innovative stunts and undead assaults.
As the lead role, Jun Ji-hyun brings a strong performance; one whom the viewers will undoubtedly cheer for and solidly stand behind. Her character, an expert in the field of biology and other related domains, skilfully adapts to the evolution of the virus, finding ingenious ways to keep surviving. However, just like in Batman, every great hero needs a great villain, and that is when Seo Yeong Cheol (Koo Kyu-hwan; “Peninsula” (2020)) steps in. His sinister look, the smug smirk on his face and his gentle way of boasting with charisma in a delicate, yet powerful fashion will undeniably make him as threatening as the infected plaguing the building. Simply put: he is the villain you love to hate by just making it look so cool.
Colony
As it was in his 2016 blockbuster, the flexible, jerky actors that Yeon Sang-ho made famous return in an equally unsettling manner. Some of them even attempt to mimick what they see, combining their creepy, threatening approaches in unison. As anyone would expect, a tremendous amount of actors were used for the infected, and even more important amount of special and make-up effects were deployed for this bloody, gooey extravaganza, making the audience feel icky themselves.
Colony
Fans won’t be able to help themselves in comparing “Colony” to its 2016 predecessor (as was evidently done in this review) due to the numerous similarities in the way the outbreak plays out and the manner in which the infected behave. While “Train to Busan” was a masterpiece on a number of levels, this latest feature film, despite having some moving aspects, just doesn’t have quite the same emotional depth. Whether it is the fact that some characters might not have as much of the viewers’ empathy or the way the plot plays out for each of them, most of these individuals are simply pawns in the grand scheme of things rather than characters that you just don’t want to see harmed.
Colony
Nonetheless, Yeon Sang-ho delivers a smart, exciting new zombie film, hooking audiences into its bloody grip for the delirious ride from start to finish. Not only was it one of the best films at the 30th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival; it’ll probably be one of the top films of 2026. Period. When “Train to Busan” mixes aspects of “Dawn of the Dead” and traps it all “[REC]”-style, you get “Colony,” which receives a well-merited 4.25 eyes out of 5.
