Train to Busan

Director Yeon Sang-ho's K-Horror masterpiece pits a father and daughter against a zombie outbreak outside the confines of their Busan-bound train, and within.

All aboard! As news of a zombie virus breaking out in South Korea begins to swirl through the news cycle, a high-speed train en route from Seoul to Busan becomes a microcosm for the chaos happening outside.

Curator's Note

After beginning his career animating the mean streets of South Korea in The King of Pigs (2011) and The Fake (2013), director Yeon Sang-ho made an explosive move to live-action horror with his zombie mega-hit Train to Busan. The film made its world premiere at the 69th Cannes Film Festival where it screened out of competition. A huge box office and critical success around the world, the film was swiftly followed up by an animated prequel (Seoul Station), and four years after the film's premiere, a sequel was released in Peninsula (2020).

Considered by many to offer a critique of class structure and unchecked capitalism, Train to Busan redraws humanity as the victim, rather than the perpetrator. The film has received high praise for elevating the emotional over the political with character's personal narrative arcs packing the biggest punch.

– Reece Goodwin; Curator (Film & TV)