South Korean films and TV shows have delivered no-holds-barred spectacles, with heartbreaking violence and shocking twists. “Squid Game,” whose second season recently launched, is no exception, and one of the show’s key players, Gong Yoo, previously starred in another South Korean genre gem.
In “Squid Game,” Gong plays the Recruiter, an enigmatic, well-dressed agent who lures potential players by challenging them to a game of ddakji. The Recruiter’s handsome face and friendly demeanor make it easy for his character to convince unsuspecting debtors to try their luck – both at ddakji and then at the mysterious game with higher stakes.
In “Train to Busan,” that same magnetism draws you in and compels you to root for Seok Woo, a divorced workaholic trying to escape a zombie outbreak with his young daughter, Su-an. By now, zombie films are a tried-and-true genre; we’ve seen all sorts of versions of zombies, from the emotionally intense “The Last of Us” to the parody “Shaun of the Dead.” But “Train to Busan” offers so much more.
The train to Busan is a high-speed nightmare
What makes “Train to Busan” one of the best zombie films of all time is its relentless energy. Much like the bullet train the characters are trapped on, once it starts, it never stops.
The premise: An infected woman jumps onto a high-speed train full of innocent travelers who must then escape the growing horde of zombies. From the frenetic hand-held camera shots to the rapid editing, we are thrust into this terrifying situation from which there seems to be no escape. The most terrifying thing about these zombies—besides the close-ups of their twisted, gleeful smiles and rotting flesh—is that they are fast and driven by a bloodthirsty instinct that’s hard to outrun. Their savage violence, combined with the small, claustrophobic space of the train, creates one adrenaline-fueled sequence after another.
But amid all this madness, “Train to Busan” never loses sight of the devastation and human pain of becoming a zombie. We frequently see close-ups of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and all manner of friends and family members deeply affected by the transformation of their loved ones into these mindless creatures. “Train to Busan” has a strong emotional core, even in its scariest scenes, leading to an incredibly moving finale. “Train to Busan” explores the heartbreaking flip side of losing control and becoming a monster, while also featuring gruesome apocalyptic action. You see a lot more of Gong Yoo’s acting skills in this film, since his role as a recruiter in “Squid Game”, while crucial, is smaller.
