Seoul Station (2016)
“You are participating in an unlawful assembly…”
A grim and depressing look at Korean society…oh yeah, and there are zombies.
Seoul Station (in Korean, Seoulyeok) is a prequel to the brilliant 2016 Train to Busan. We described Train as the “feel good zombie movie of 2016”…and it was, standing out not because its ending was particularly uplifting, but because the characters were, by and large, examples of humanity at its best: loyal, courageous, compassionate, and self-sacrificing.
These are not the kind of people who appear in Seoul Station.
Moviegoers who have seen Train (or any other zombie film) are already familiar with the outline of the story: people begin showing up with bite marks, dying, and coming back as cannibalistic ghouls. As with most zomb-flicks, there is a lot of shaded social commentary, though in Seoul the coloring is often done with a monster Sharpie rather than a light No. 2 pencil.
The short , non-spoilery, version of the story is that it follows a woman named Hye-Seon (Shim Eun-Kyung) (Shim also appeared in Train, but in a different role) as she tries to stay alive in a Seoul that is quickly being overrun by fast moving Rage-type zombies. Meanwhile, her father (Ryu Seung-Ryong) and boyfriend (Lee Joon) search for her, battling the undead and the authorities.
Getting slightly spoilerly, Hye-Seon in an unwilling sex worker and her boyfriend is her pimp (or wannabe pimp - it is a little unclear how far he is along in pimp actualization). It is stated in the first couple minutes of the movie, so no big reveal, but does get to an important point about Seoul: The people in this film, with perhaps one or two exceptions, are not heroes.
Seoul Station’s characters range from pathetic and flawed to enormously evil. Part of the film’s magic is that, despite this, you still feel something for them - perhaps because the terror of their situations (like being trapped in a cell with someone infected). The breakneck speed of the movie also helps: you jump from crisis to crisis so quickly you don’t really have time to catch your breath and reflect on who the characters are, just what they are experiencing.
Much of the movie is standard zombie fare, with Korean flavoring and a lot of social commentary. Some of it is pretty universal - and ham handed - (the military seeing the homeless as a greater threat than the zombies), while some is surprisingly subtle (a “meta” scene near the end taking place in a model home where everything is fake…except the danger). Because a lot of the commentary involves contemporary Korean culture some of it will pass by many viewers (Parasite suffered from the same thing). Still and all, it is interesting for those who may want to dig into it.
As usual, we won’t spoil the end…but for all its standard tropes, the conclusion of Seoul Station managed to surprise. It was bloody, rapey, and included a twist that made perfect sense, but came out of no where like a baby zombie in a gas station bathroom (a little Dawn of the Dead cookie for old time deadheads).
What’s the verdict?
Seoul Station is gory, interesting, and disturbing fun. If you are expecting Train to Busan, this ain’t it. But it is a rock solid movie. We recommend it.
You can catch it HERE.
Three out of Five Bowls of Ramyon.
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