Colony is one of the most terrifying zombie movies in years because it’s a reflection of the current state of humanity. Because on the surface Colony seems intense, often sticky, and like just an excuse to make another thrilling zombie movie after the success of Train to Busan. But Colony really is an experience about individuality, collective consciousness, and misinformation in an age of AI and so much information coming at us.
In Colony, a bioterrorism attack leads to an entire building being shut down as a preventative measure so the infection doesn’t spread. Because what has been released infects the person, turns them violent towards anything that looks human, and brings them into a collective consciousness. But what makes this even scarier is that because they are a collective conscience, they evolve the more they learn.
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So these zombies go from crawling on all fours with a basic understanding of what humans are, to being on their feet and recognizing human faces from posters for example. But not just that. Because when they learn something, like how humans smell or move or act, the collective gets an update, making survival nearly impossible for any of the humans. And at one point, things become even more dangerous, when someone starts leading the collective for their own nefarious plans.
As a viewer, I don’t think it really clicked for me how the zombies in Colony were a reflection of humanity until misinformation was introduced. There came a point in the movie where the survivors understood what was happening with these zombies and how they were “updating” each other when they learned something new. And they introduced false information into the collective as a means of survival. Instantly it snapped for me; how misinformation is used as a weapon to change minds, sow discontent, and divide in our real world. And when there’s someone driving that misinformation via the collective for their own gain, oh things get even worse.
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While the zombies were a symbol of the collective, the AI feeding pot of all information (including misinformation), and how fast updates spread, the survivors were a symbol of individualism, the creativity of the human mind, and thinking for yourself. The survivors are a means of fighting against the collective but also misinformation. They’re also a symbol of questioning what you know and where that information comes from. And I didn’t think that an important message like that could be delivered via a zombie movie.
Besides the deep and meaningful messages within Colony, this movie deserves all the kudos for stepping it up when it comes to the zombie genre. Because I was thoroughly disgusted and horrified. On the disgusted front, things were sticky, glassy, and just bubbling everywhere. And I found myself wanting to gag consistently. It was all made worse because everything looked immaculate. The set design was disgusting and immaculate. But so was the character design, every single zombie making me go, “Nope. Bye. We’re not doing this today. But oh, someone took care in making you look terrifying.”
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Also I need to know everything about the department responsible for how the zombies move. Because if there’s anything that I know that’s going to happen when I watch a South Korean zombie film, it’s that they’re going to unnerve me with how their zombies move. Their zombies always move in a way that feels like an abomination. They’re disturbing, shudder and sway in unnatural ways, make noises that sound otherworldly and painful, and twist themselves into forms that emphasize how not us they are. And it’s an art.
Character wise, I think everybody killed it. And I’m going to stick to this even though I found myself so frustrated with so many of these characters in Colony. I was practically screaming at the screen when the bully got help, the kind one didn’t make it through, or betrayal happened. Even when dumb things happened, I found myself wanting to pull out my hair because I was invested in their survival. But it goes in line with what Colony is saying. Humans are fallible but it’s still better than a collective consciousness someone can use for their own purposes.
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As for the emotional heart of this movie, it’s not a father and daughter like in Train to Busan. It’s between a brother and a sister. And what Kim Shin-rock and Ji Chang-wook brought to life with their sibling relationship was heartfelt, unyielding, and beautiful to the point where I found myself crying and mourning what could’ve been. Their story was about patience, kindness, support, and sacrifice. And at the end of the day, their characters are the ones that I’m going to remember because of the sheer vulnerability and love that they shared in the middle of so much chaos.
Ultimately, Colony is a clever way to tackle misinformation through the zombie genre while also being a reminder that horror can be just as hard-hitting, emotional, and multi-faceted as drama, action, comedy, and any other genre that always wins the awards.
Colony is now playing in theaters.
