COLONY Review – Fantasia International Film Festival 2026

Our Fantasia coverage is finally capped off with Yeon Sang-ho’s “Colony”, an exciting, thrilling entry in his already impressive zombie filmography, lined with smart writing, compelling characters and terrific action.

Synopsis

Professor Se Jeong attends a biotech conference, only to witness it spiral into catastrophe when a rapidly mutating virus is unleashed. As the outbreak spreads and the infected begin to transform, authorities seal off the entire facility.

Review
After blowing us away with the action-packed, character driven zombie films “Train to Busan”, its prequel “Seoul Station” and its sequel “Peninsula”, the world has been waiting to see what else director Yeon Sang-ho has up his sleeve in the zombie genre. Arriving at Fantasia International Film Festival is “Colony”, a new film from Sang-ho (not part of the “Train to Busan” universe) that unleashes a new breed of zombie – this time controlled by biotech. The film begins at a biotech conference in a mall where professor Kwon Se-jeong (Gianna Jun) attends with her ex-husband Han Gyu-seong (Go Soo), aiming to possibly shake hands with the CEO and get a new start in her career. On another floor, deranged and brilliant scientist Seo Young-cheol (Koo Kyo-hwan) carries out an outbreak that turns people in the mall into bloodthirsty zombies controlled only by his mind and his orders. As he stays tucked away in a room, Se-jeong and the other survivors fight to escape the mall and learn how to stop these monsters before they get out and infect the outside world.

There is no doubt of a George A. Romero-like influence on this film – trapping the survivors against zombies in a mall rings echoes of Romero’s classic 1978 film “Dawn of the Dead”. Also, when there’s a zombie film, there is almost always a metaphor for what the zombie represents. In Romero’s “Dawn”, the brain-dead walkers represented mindless capitalism whereas in this film, the zombies represent the all-encompassing power of hive mentality, boosted by toxic social media and addictive technology. It’s shrewd writing on Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok’s part that would no doubt make Romero proud. Great characterization has always been a staple in Sang-ho’s films and it is no different in his latest. Within this group, we have characters we care about, characters we can’t stand, characters we want to see win and those we need to see lose. Gianna Jun, who returns to the big screen after 11 years, delivers an engaging performance as Se-jeong, a woman who stubbornly doesn’t wanna accept help in her life (as noted by her emphatic ex-husband) but still doesn’t turn away from those that care about her. She takes on the horror material and spearheads the film as the leader of the survivors. On the villainous side of the game, Koo Kyo-hwan steals the show as Seo Young-cheol, carrying himself as a menacing force that will stop at nothing to achieve his deranged dream of a new humanity.

In a survival horror film, Sang-ho knows to balance character with plot and action. The twists and turns within the film are exciting and engaging. As the film progresses, the zombies become smarter and smarter, literally uploading information and knowledge to their chained brains as the survivors race against time to escape. The film is not afraid to kill its darlings and when a beloved character passes on, the emotion is felt as strongly as it was in Sang-ho’s original hit “Train to Busan”. Balancing ruthless bureaucracy with resilient survival aptly builds the tension in the script and keeps the audience engaged as the film measuredly sprints towards its action-packed finale.

Closing Thoughts
Capping off my Fantasia coverage, it truly is great to see Sang-ho tackling the zombie genre once again. Those who are concerned of the film’s quality not being up to par (being that this film is not a part of the “Train to Busan” continuity) need not fear as “Colony” is a fun, thrilling horror ride. The film’s writing is undoubtedly smart and the twists within the film does not insult the audience’s intelligence. This is another great entry within Sang-ho’s filmography and it makes me excited to see what else the skilled director will bring in the future.

Trailer