Colony - A Different Kind of Zombie Movie Nicely Combined with Sci-Fi Element

I have known about this new South Korean zombie movie that has been promoted for quite some time. Though there was advance ticket sale in Indonesia since last week for today's show, I wanted to wait and see if it's playing in my favorite theater. However an urgent thing came up and I could not go there, so I had to settle seeing this in the cinema near my home. All right then, I'll just get on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

Se-jeong (Jun Ji-hyun - Kingdom: Ashin of the North, Tempest TV series etc) a professor in biotechnology and her ex-husband Han Gyu-seong (Go Soo - Lucid Dream, Missing: The Other Side TV series etc) were invited to a seminar about biotech held in Dongwoori building. Unfortunately a scientist named Suh Yeong-chol (Koo Kyo-hwan - Escape, We Are All Trying Here TV series etc) decided to release a highly infectious & dangerous virus there, which would turn people into vicious man-eating zombies. 

Se-jeong and Gyu-seong were trapped inside the building together with some survivors that included siblings Hyun-seok (Ji Chang-wook - The Manipulated TV series, The Bros etc) and his sister Hyun-hee (Kim Shin-rok - Project Y, Tastefully Yours TV series etc), Counter terrorism officer Lee (Lee Joong-ok - Officer Black Belt, The Judge From Hell TV series etc), and several others. They had no choice but try to escape while evading the swarm of zombies who grew smarter by time. Meanwhile on the outside, the government who was concern of virus outbreak had closed the whole building. They enlisted some scientists to find out solution to the virus, including Professor Gong (Shin Hyun-been - Hospital Playlist TV series, The Ugly etc) who was also the present wife of Gyu-seong. 

So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

As I said above, I was excited to see this movie with my wife since it was another zombie film from South Korea who had done well in the past decade for creating some interesting & entertaining movies & series of such genre. But what's even more exciting was the fact it was directed by none other than Yeon Sang-ho, the man who directed that highly critical and truly great zombie movie Train to Busan and its standalone sequel and series like Parasyte: The Grey etc. He was also credited as co-writer together with Choi Gyu-seok (Revelation, Hellbound TV series etc). 

Anyway the film did not take long for the suspense to begin and from that moment on, it was moving in fast pace with few brief moments to "give audience" some breaks. The intensity was felt quite consistent through the eyes of some survivors who were trapped inside the building. What set this one apart from other zombie films though were the added sci-fi element. Amazingly they were not that difficult to comprehend and my wife and I were able to easily understand the simplified technical explanation. The sci-fi part did make the movie felt different as it explored on how the zombies evolved with ways to evade them, not simply just zombie survival. It did however make the dramatic part a little bit less especially if you compared to Train to Busan.

The zombie effects here were very good supported by some awesome sound effect. I was able to enjoy it despite the studio having standard Dolby Surround system. The make up and blood effects were well done too adding the terrifying sense. The cast did a pretty wonderful job here. Aside from the names above, there were also support cast like Kim Jong-tae (Black Money, The Tale of Lady Ok TV series etc) as CEO Kang who spoke at the seminar, Choi Kwang-Il (Holy Night: Demon Hunters, Phantom Lawyer TV series etc) as Minister of Interior and Safety, Chae Seo-un (Good Deal, Mr. Queen TV series etc) as the bully high school student and several others. The movie had a duration of 122 minutes which included closing credit. There was no mid or post end credit scene here and it also had a pretty conclusive ending (I do not believe the final scene was meant to be a teaser for sequel as it is quite standard for horror movie).

Before the movie started, I noticed it premiered in Midnight Screening of 2026 Cannes Film Festival, just like Train to Busan. Critics seemed OK with the movie and audience seemed to enjoy it as well. From what I read, this film was a success in South Korea and currently sitting at number 2 for movies released in 2026, though it might be too big of task to reach the Top Grossing film there. It was already playing since May 21 and rolled out to other countries gradually. Once again Indonesia was quite fortunate to be part of the International Distributed countries and audience can see this after less than 2 weeks.

Despite having few rather cliché moments that were no longer surprising like the fate of the survivors, my wife and I were still entertained by this movie. The action sequence and the evolving zombies were the main attraction for us, combined with a little drama that still managed to make my wife emotional during one of the scene. It also has a satisfying ending and interesting story. So if you are looking for a zombie action film nicely combined with sci-fi element then I think you would enjoy this like we did. But if you prefer zombie survival with lots of dramatic moments, especially if you are hoping for something like Yeon Sang-ho's first feature film, then you would find this to be different and might not be as satisfied with it. But I do believe that this one's worth to see in the cinema with large screen and great sound effect to provide better experience.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars