Review Essay: Train to Busan

Train to Busan, or Busanhaeng, is a movie about the zombie apocalypse in South Korea,

directed by Yeon Sang-ho and starring actors Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi and Ma Dong-seok.

Released in 2016, this movie not only gains huge success in Korea and other Asian countries but

also makes its mark on the movie industry. Train to Busan is also a non-English speaking movie

to be one of the most famous pandemic movies and TV shows with 7.6 in IMDb rating.

Despite the variety of genres, a zombie breakout has never been a choice for Korean film

producers. “However, with a MERS epidemic sweeping South Korea in 2015 and soaring

discontent with corruption and economic disparity, a zombie apocalypse serves as a potent

allegory for the dog-eat-dog world” (Lee, Variety). Train to Busan revolves around the journey

that a workaholic manager Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) and his daughter Su-an (Kim Soo-ah) take on

the KTX train to visit his ex-wife in Busan. However, that journey suddenly turns into a deadly

survival when they have to face a zombie pandemic that is spreading across Korea. Seok-woo

and Su-an have to hold on to the fateful train that goes straight to Busan as there is nowhere to

stop. The battle against the zombies brings Seok-woo closer to his daughter. On the way, they

get to know a married couple Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seok), Sung-kyung (Jung Yu-mi), two high

school students Jin-hee (An So-hee), Young-guk (Choi Woo-sik) and an egotistic director named

Yong-suk (Kim Eui-sung). They have to huddle together to find a way to survive.

The movie is intense and unpredictable from the beginning till the very ending scenes.

“The first 15 minutes tease audiences with glimpses of zombie threat, like a shadow lunging

spastically across the platform, or ominous news reports of riots in the capital” (Lee, Variety).

Then, as soon as the train leaves the station, a young girl with a wound on her leg gets on the

train. A short moment later, she turns into a zombie and bites a train stewardess which causes the
zombie outbreak occurs. Seok-woo, Su-an and other passengers have to fight with all their

instincts for their survivals. Unlike other Korean movies with a happy ending where the main

character wins the battle, Train to Busan is full of dolorous deaths. The movie even brings

emotions to the climax with the death of Seok-woo. When things almost come to an end, he is

bitten by a zombie. To protect his daughter and Sung-kyung, Seok-woo chooses to kill himself

by jumping out of the locomotive. In the last moments of being a human, Seok-woo recalls the

moments of happiness when holding his newly born daughter. The scene that Su-an painfully

crying ‘Please, don’t go’ and the smile that he makes when ending his life is so heartbreaking

that makes me burst out into tears. Seok-woo is not a hero. He is just an ordinary father, who is

too busy with his work that does not have time to be close to his daughter. This character, like

every other father in the world, always has his way of loving his children. Even if he does not

have the superman power, he still sacrifices everything to save his children. The movie ends in

grief and a sorrowful atmosphere. A child witnesses the passing of her father. A wife loses a

husband she loves, and even the soon-to-be-born child cannot meet her father. They hold their

hands, continue heading to the final destination, the Busan station.

The success of Train to Busan not only lies in its thrilling yet emotional plot but also its

cinematography. Under Lee Hyung-deok’ s wonderful lens, “washrooms become thrilling

battlegrounds and unlikely sanctuaries. An extended sequence in which the driver tries to switch

trains is choreographed with the utmost suspense” (Lee, Variety). Moreover, visual and sound

effects also play an essential role making the movie more intense. “Yang Jin-mo’s dextrous

editing crank up the ferocious pace as the undead swarm like insects up escalators and along

tracks. Jang Young-gyu’s music alternates from squishy stabs and honking alarums to more
lyrical piano tinklings, with scenes of carnage often offset by stirring melancholy melodies that

emphasise heartbreak over horror” (Kermode, The Guardian).

Despite revolving the fictional zombie epidemic, the realistic message that the movie

delivers of how humans overcome a pandemic that leaves many of us an issue to think about.

There are people like the director Yong-suk who would do everything to keep him safe. He

harms one person after another with the reason that his mother is waiting for him at home. This

villain poses a conundrum for us that when a pandemic occurs, do we think about other people or

are we just concerned with ourselves? Even the 'hero' character Seok-woo at the beginning of the

movie also tells his daughter “At times like this, just take care of yourself, okay?”

Overall, I think Train to Busan is a highly recommended experience. Centering on the

zombie epidemic, some audiences doubt the movie is the Korean version of the blockbuster

World War Z or the famous The Walking Dead series. However, Train to Busan is different, it is

a “breathless cinematic bullet train” that “boasts frantic physical action, sharp social satire and

ripe sentimental melodrama designed to reach into your ribcage and rip out your bleeding heart”

(Kermode, The Guardian).

 Work Cited

Kermode, Mark. “Train to Busan Review – a Nonstop Zombie Thrill Ride.” The Guardian,
Guardian News and Media, 30 Oct. 2016, www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/30/train-to-
busan-review-nonstop-thrill-ride-zombies.

Lee, Maggie. “Film Review: 'Train to Busan'.” Variety, Variety, 3 Nov. 2016,
variety.com/2016/film/reviews/train-to-busan-review-busan-haeng-1201772922/.

“Train to Busan.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 20 July 2016, www.imdb.com/title/tt5700672/.