No filmmaker has picked up George A. Romero‘s zombie mantle quite like Yeon Sang-ho. His groundbreaking Train to Busan introduced common themes of corporate greed, individualism, classism, and the hells of capitalism that permeate his zombie films. All are present in his latest, Colony, but it’s individualism that takes center stage as Yeon Sang-ho wields an intense infection movie as an allegory for the perils of AI.
The film’s title is the first clue, referring to the bioengineered mold that communicates and operates like a hive mind. It can also regenerate dead tissue. The biotech company that engineered it is giving a presentation at a medical conference in a Korean high-rise facility when disgruntled, crazed employee Seo Young-chul (Koo Hyo-hwan) confronts the company’s CEO in his private office, injecting him with the mold. It unleashes a deadly outbreak that quickly spreads. With the building under lockdown, survivors band together in a desperate bid to escape.
Writer and director Yeon Sang-ho once again assembles an ensemble of personalities thrust into a nightmarish scenario of twitching, fast-moving infected. While not the most fleshed out beyond protagonist Kwon Se-jeong (Jun Ji-hyun), a prickly loner-type with the necessary smarts to survive, there’s enough contrasting personalities on display to inject plenty of suspense and drama in an increasingly goopy, gory zombie siege.
As such, Colony constantly questions what it means to be human, to have an identity. It’s most overt when focused on the evolving infection; what begins as a familiar, rudimentary outbreak slowly transforms into an organized hive of fungus, goo, and contorting bodies moving as one. These zombies learn, and they learn fast. It becomes an effective, and often gross, visual metaphor for the alarmingly rapid spread of AI and the emptiness of using it to replace human thought and emotions.
It’s also reflected in the compelling heroine Se-Jeong, a strong-willed scientist so steadfast in her independence that her ex-husband Han (Go Soo) knows she’ll have a hard time finding a job without his direct intervention. As the foremost character resolving to think for herself, Se-Jeong becomes both an observant exposition deliverer and fierce final girl in a battle of wits against the cartoon villainy of Young-chul.
While this premise comes with all the familiar hallmarks of zombie outbreaks, from noble sacrifices to repetitive zombie logic, Sang-ho compensates with constant pulse-pounding action and increasingly intricate set pieces. Colony may take place in a high-rise, but Sang-ho makes full use of space, zipping survivors through offices, a shopping mall, operational facilities, and more, culminating in a showstopping finale so wild and complex in stunt work that it drives his AI metaphor to impressive new heights.
Even his zombies get an upgrade here. The mutating mold develops in stages, adding a fascinating new wrinkle, of course, but what makes these zombies so compelling is their collective movement. Choreographer Jeon Young assembles a horde of contortionists and dancers to play the zombies, all twitching, crawling, and attacking in unison. How that evolves, along with the infected’s unique “information exchange” among themselves, ensures that Colony rises above its familiar beats and tropes.
Colony wears its Romero influence on its sleeves, but with purpose. Plenty of zombie stories, as far back as Night of the Living Dead, see hope dwindle when human conflict and clashing personalities derail teamwork in the face of death. While that makes Colony too beholden to the familiar beats at parts, it’s also a clever reflection of our current societal approach to AI. It’s Sang-ho’s biggest film yet in scale and production value, even if sometimes unwieldy with ambition.
Sang-ho pushes his zombie legacy forward in a propulsive, thrilling new film that doesn’t reinvent the formula, but instead repurposes it for digestible social commentary. More importantly, the subtext never undermines the horror mechanics; Colony never forgets to entertain through kinetic horror action, a visceral new infection, and classic zombie thrills.
Colony releases in theaters on August 28, 2026.
