The zombie horror genre is one that’s been poked at, gnawed on, spit out, and chewed up by so many filmmakers worldwide that it’s almost impossible to see what else they can possibly squeeze out of their undead subjects. But director Yeon Sang-ho, who gave the world the zombie drama Train to Busan a decade ago, seems to have one more thing to say with his latest creature feature, Colony.

Fans of Yeon’s Train to Busan (and perhaps his other genre offerings, Seoul Station and Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula) will most likely know the director’s M.O. by now when it comes to zombie horror. The creatures themselves are fast, can’t see very well, and are terrifying when they move in mobs (props to Yeon’s favored choreographer, Jeon Young). But they’re never just zombies — Yeon loves a metaphor, and if we use Train to Busan as an example, there were themes of fatherhood, capitalism, and herd mentality all blending together to make the film stand out from your regular guts-and-gore zombie flick.

The same tendency towards allegory crops up again in Colony, although it’s difficult to say if Yeon stuck the landing this time. The film follows Professor Se Jeong (Jun Ji-hyun), a brilliant but ornery professor who finds herself, along with a group of survivors, trapped in the same building where mad-scientist-turned-bioterrorist Seo Yeong Cheol (Koo Kyo-hwan) has unleashed a deadly virus.

Now, as most movie bioterrorists often do, Yeong Chol has much to say about how broken the world is and how things would be better if someone were to, say, reboot the entire system. Colony presents us with multiple monologues about “collective intelligence” (its chosen alternative phrase for AI) and how, if left in the wrong hands, the technology could (either literally or metaphorically) turn everyone into zombies. “In a way, [AI] is like a living organism,” Yeon said in an interview with Variety, “and it reduces our individualism, our individuality.”

Does ‘Colony’ Deliver As A Horror Movie?

This is all well and good, and you won’t hear me trying to defend the “wonders” of AI any time soon. The problem is that, while Yeon is chasing after a big and timely metaphor for his horror movie, much of the film’s other elements fall onto the wayside. 

This isn’t to say that Colony is a subpar horror. In fact, it’s much better than Yeon’s last zombie feature, Peninsula, and it revisits a lot of the smart writing and world-building that made Train to Busan such a stand-out in the director’s body of work. Because most of Colony is set in the confines of a mall-slash-office-building, things get claustrophobic very quickly. The survivors, all with their own set of skills, must navigate cramped hallways, elevators, and stores if they have any hope of making it out alive. 

What’s more, Yeon takes a bit of time to explore the emotional baggage that each survivor brings to the table. Much like how Train to Busan gave us an ensemble where each player had to confront their own inner demons (while also beating the crap out of, well, very real demons), Colony has a number of characters dealing with their own fears and mistakes. 

Unfortunately, time with these protagonists is limited, and this is due to Yeon trying to give more screentime to his social commentary. There’s nothing wrong with a metaphor, but it gets a little tricky when that same metaphor detracts from the main storyline. Colony has lots to say, that’s clear. But because Yeon is trying to make the most of his two-hour runtime, his characters’ arcs and hero journeys feel slightly half-baked.

Colony is currently screening in Philippine cinemas.

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