COLONY
****
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho.
Starring Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Shin-rok.
Horror, South Korea, 122 Minutes.
Released in Cinemas in the UK on 28th August by Studio Canal
Reviewed as part of Tubi FrightFest 2026
A decade since he blew the FrightFest audience away with his instant classic TRAIN TO BUSAN on the closing night of the 2016 festival, director Yeon Sang-ho’s latest big screen feature returns to the festival for the opening night. While BUSAN reinvigorated the overexposed genre with its ruthless, no holds barred and propulsive storytelling, the audience may be a bit more prepared this time around, but this is still quite a return to form for the director whose work since then has somewhat paled in comparison.
The hallmarks of what made BUSAN such a hit are present and correct here; hordes of fast moving infected/zombies pursuing a mismatched band of survivors around a single location. This time around the action takes place in a large city centre tower block where our group of protagonists are led somewhat reluctantly by a female biologist. The differences here however are distinct enough to make COLONY stand on its own, especially when considering the hive mind aspect that links the infected together, making them one gigantic lethal entity and the villainous figure controlling them all for his own nefarious purposes.
While it still lingers somewhat in the shadow of BUSAN, there is more than enough here to keep horror aficionados and audiences in general gripped and entertained. The confined setting of the tower block, which sometimes pops outside to check in on a bunch of investigating virologists, allows for a sense of disaster movie tropes, especially in regards to its group of struggling survivors, which includes such staples as the selfish man, the disabled lady, her strong heroic brother and a pair of teenage bullies and their quiet victim who may prove her own worth. Sang-ho provides enough wrinkles for this group, to keep the audience on their toes, especially in the order and style in which some of them fall prey to the ever expanding, and aerobic, threat that threatens to consume them all.
Jun Ji-hyun, who battled a similar enemy in a period setting in the underrated Netflix series KINGDOM, makes for an appealing enough heroine. Koo Kyo-hwan however struts away as the most memorable character, the villainous, manipulative yet mild-mannered biologist who communicates with his vast army of infected flesh chewers over his own biological network which soon mutates into some memorably gnarly body horror.
Although lacking in comparison to the film that made his name, this is still Sang-ho’s most entertaining film since then. More than just a zombie movie, it is also reminiscent of the virus thrillers that were all the rage in US cinema years ago, with its ticking clock element and the gruesome effects of its devastating virus on the verge of breaking out in an increasing measure. Exciting and entertaining, COLONY makes for supremely fun viewing, especially in its prime slot on the first night of what looks to be a vintage year for Tubi FrightFest.
Iain MacLeod