Yeon Sang-ho on how his zombie films dissect modern society and human identity

ZTrain To Busan managed to blend profound emotional depth with visceral gore. The story of a workaholic father (played by Gong Yoo) protecting his young daughter (Kim Su-an) during a national outbreak on a crowded train, the film moved audiences to tears as much as it shocked them with its violence. It was this powerful emotional core that elevated the movie above typical entries in the flesh-eating genre.

Acclaimed South Korean auteur Yeon Sang-ho has explored diverse genres, ranging from grim animated features to superhero thrillers. However, it was Train To Busan—which premiered to critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016—that established him as a master of horror, placing him alongside legendary countrymen Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, and Na Hong-jin. With his latest K-horror release, Colony, he returns for his fourth venture into the world of the undead.

Importantly, Colony stands apart from the Train To Busan universe, distinguishing itself from the animated prequel Seoul Station (2016) and the standalone sequel Peninsula (2020). Yet, it delivers another expertly crafted blend of intense bodily carnage, high-octane action, and unexpected emotional sentimentality.

Speaking with NME via Zoom from South Korea, the director reflects on why the zombie has dominated horror for over two decades as the go-to monster: “Even as time changes, zombie movies always represent the fears we experience at that specific moment. That is why they always feel very fresh.” In our post-pandemic era, it is easy to agree. Yeon’s films are eerily prescient, depicting societies fractured by paranoia and deadly disease. During politically turbulent times, survival horror taps into something deeply primal and strikingly contemporary, transcending the appeal of glittering vampires or simple ghosts.

In Colony, a biotech terrorist unleashes a pathogen during a scientific conference with the goal of “improving” humanity. The narrative unfolds like The Towering Inferno meets Die Hard—but with the undead. Almost the entire action takes place within a towering commercial building, where survivors must band together to outwit both hordes of drooling ghouls and Koo Kyo-hwan’s maniacal, yet perversely utopian antagonist. This villain is no ordinary outcast scientist; he has infected himself with the virus and gained the ability to telepathically communicate with the undead—a feat Hans Gruber could never achieve. Expanding on the genre’s unique capacity to mirror contemporary society, Yeon explains: “My movie Colony is more about our current society, in which there is a confrontation between individuality and collectiveness—the universality of collectiveness.”

Initially, Yeon had no intention of making another zombie film. However, the story he wanted to tell—centered on the gradual erosion of personal identity in an age of digital overload—felt like a perfect fit for the genre. “Only after discussing it with my co-writer Choi Gyu-seok, who worked with me on the Netflix show Hellbound, did I decide to pursue it,” he shares. “We wanted to delve deeper into this theme of collectiveness. We realized that the high-speed exchange of information in the modern world leads to the erosion of individuality in human beings.”

“Zombie movies are the greatest way to depict social issues”

Critics have frequently pointed to Yeon’s seemingly pessimistic worldview, particularly in his animated features like Seoul Station, The King Of Pigs, and The Fake, which present dark visions of human nature. However, the director rejects the label of modern cinema’s miserabilist. “I don’t think I’m pessimistic. I’m not pessimistic in real life,” he asserts. He credits literary influences, quoting Japanese author Keiichiro Hirano from the introduction of Tale Of The First Moon: “All human beings have inside themselves a demonic side. In order to speak or see the humanist aspect of oneself, we also have to go deep through the demonic side we all have in us.” Yeon, who also cites surrealist author Franz Kafka and Greek fabulist Aesop, weaves these themes into his films. In works like Train To Busan, Seoul Station, Peninsula, and Colony, characters are often forced to make perilous choices with devastating consequences, illustrating how the darkness within can either empower or destroy.

Yeon’s zombie films possess a distinctly South Korean character, a quality the director attributes to his homeland’s approach to horror. “That is why the messages in Korean zombie films are very clear,” he explains. “The unique themes, and the fact that we mix genres, are what mark Korean zombie movies out from others.” This genre-blending is precisely why Train To Busan resonated so deeply, moving audiences to tears. In other hands, it could have been a simple reworking of Snakes On A Plane, but Yeon transformed it into a profound story of a father proving his worth. “Train To Busan is a zombie movie, but at the same time a disaster movie, an action movie, and a family drama,” Yeon notes. “You can have a mix of different genres.”

If Train To Busan offered a cross-sectional look at society trapped on a speeding locomotive, Colony’s vertical architecture functions like a controlled laboratory experiment. Yeon deliberately chose a multi-level corporate building as the setting because it symbolizes a glass container in a scientist’s lab. “You’re not interested in what is outside. You analyze only what is in the glass container,” he explains. This clinical perspective lends a distinct bleakness to the film, consistent with Yeon’s broader oeuvre. “I think about what makes us human, what humanity is, and I wait and try to have this chemical reaction come from the setting,” he adds.

With Colony, Yeon has now delivered four gripping, high-energy films within the undead genre. Has he reached his limit? “Zombie movies are, I think, the greatest way to depict the social issues of their respective time,” he reflects. This very capacity for social commentary is what makes his work stand out. Much like George A. Romero’s 1968 masterpiece Night Of The Living Dead, which combined political conscience with shocking cannibalism, Yeon’s films possess a sharp intellectual edge—offering plenty of food for thought alongside the gore.

‘Colony’ is released in UK cinemas on August 28.

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