Exhilarating Day One zombie movie

Rating: Null/10 (1 April 2020)

Train to Busan is a story about a group of random people that are on their way to Busan in South Korea when the zombie virus breaks loose and people start to turn. The movie is nothing more than their desperate struggle to survive through the initial onslaught and make it to safety. But it excels at just that, being nail-bitingly intense, legitimately scary and surprisingly touching on character level.
First of all, the zombies are great. Full of props to the actors and the special effects team for their work, because not only were these zombies scary on a conceptual level - turning in an instant and being blindingly fast and strong - but they were also played superbly and looked horrifying.
Secondly, the script is great. Day One zombie movies are often rather similar in their plots, and as such there's an art to doing it in a way that feels new and novel. And this movie certainly does that. I also really liked the characters and their interactions. Rarely have I cared as much about the survivors in a zombie film as I've cared about these people. Our nominal main characters, the father and daughter, and their character arcs were especially heart-wrenching.
Lastly, the directing. Yeon Sang-ho has a superb grasp on when to rush the plot along and when to give us a moment to breathe. It's an intense movie where there's always danger and something happening, but we still have these moments to get to know our characters and come to care about them. Or hate them, depending. The worst threats in a zombie apocalypse are often the other survivors, after all.
Fantastic film. One of the best zombie films I've seen in years. One of the best horror films in general, as well, for that matter. Recommended.