The Big Picture

Seoul Station
expands social critique beyond
Train to Busan
, focusing on broader societal issues in South Korea.
The main characters in
Seoul Station
are dealing with real-world struggles like homelessness and prostitution, highlighting societal class hierarchies.
The film portrays the government in Seoul turning against its citizens, caring more about maintaining order than individual safety during the zombie outbreak.

Train to Busan was a mega hit in 2016, becoming one of the best zombie movies in years. It seems that director Yeon Sang-ho knew he had something special on his hands as soon as the movie was released. Just one month after Train to Busan’s South Korean theatrical debut, Sang-ho released Seoul Station, an animated prequel that shows the very beginning of Seoul being overrun by zombies. The story follows Hye-Sun (Shim Eun-kyung), a former sex worker already struggling before she’s separated from her boyfriend, Ki-woong (Lee Joon); together, they and Hye-sun’s father (Ryu Seung-ryong) fight through the infected city to find each other. Beyond being one of the few animated horror films, Seoul Station rises to the same level of insightful social critique as its predecessor. It doesn’t rehash the themes from Train to Busan, but instead takes a wider look at South Korean society, and it does so while still creating characters to which the audience can relate and care about.

Seoul Station Seoul Station is an animated prequel to the film Train to Busan. It portrays the early stages of a zombie outbreak in Seoul, focusing on a young woman, her father, and her boyfriend as they attempt to escape the chaos and survive the initial spread of the infection in the city​.Release Date August 17, 2016 Director Yeon Sang-ho Cast Ryu Seung-ryong , Shim Eun-kyung , Lee Joon , Kim Jae-rok , Jang Hyuk-jin , Kim Dae-heung , Yeon Sang-ho Runtime 92 Minutes Writers Yeon Sang-ho Expand

One of the draws of Train to Busan was the way it handled social issues like burnout and contempt between economic classes, and also humanistic ideas like sacrificing for those you love. These points were all made through a pool of characters that were small but well-developed. Seoul Station doesn’t lose any of that sharpness or strong writing, but it doesn’t repeat its predecessor, either. Instead, it expands its scope outside just a few commuters and shows a larger picture of all of Seoul and the rest of South Korea. The first zombie attack doesn’t happen until almost the 20-minute mark. Until then, we watch how dismissive city and government officials are towards those in need, specifically the homeless.

The main character, Hye-sun, also doesn’t find out about the zombie outbreak until five minutes after the first attack. The movie instead follows her struggling with being a former sex worker, having no money, and being with a boyfriend who wants to act as her pimp. By focusing on these real-world issues first and foremost, the movie makes it clear that the government has failed its citizens long before they turned into zombies.

‘Seoul Station’s Main Characters Are on the Bottom Rung of the Ladder
Image via Next Entertainment World

The social commentary of Seoul Stationcenters its focus around homelessness and prostitution. The main character, Hye-sun, is a former sex worker that escaped from her brothel. She’s trying to establish a steady life with her boyfriend, Ki-woong, but the two are on the verge of eviction. And worse, Ki-woong continually tries to act as her pimp without her consent.

Hye-sun is actively trying to avoid sex work, but the people around her still look down at her. Even Ki-woong justifies his own decisions by making her feel guilty about everything he’s given her so far and blaming her for their circumstances. The audience sympathizes with Hye-sun’s unfair situation, but Seoul Station digs even deeper by showing that Hye-sun herself believes in a class hierarchy. When the police refuse to help her and the group of homeless people she’s with, Hye-sun begs that they should at least help her because she’s “not a homeless.”

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She’s implying that, even as a sex worker, she’s more worth saving than an unhoused person. But considering that she’s on the verge of being evicted herself and also struggles with people looking down on her, it’s a little hypocritical for her to do the same to others. It’s even worse because this group of people warned her about the zombies in the first place and let her escape with them. And referring to an unhoused person as “a homeless” reduces them from being an individual human with needs to just part of a collective problem.

The Government Turns Against Its Citizens in ‘Seoul Station’

That isn’t to say that Hye-sun isn’t sympathetic; the above conversation is a very brief, very subtle moment from her character. Others, however, completely embody this internal class conflict. When the military blocks civilians from escaping from zombies, one man loudly complains about the injustice. Except he’s only affronted on his own behalf; he says that because he served his country and is an upstanding citizen, he’s different from the “trash” around him and should be allowed to escape.

He doesn’t know these people and being “different” didn’t keep him from being stuck in the same situation, but he still maintains his superiority. And when the man can’t escape due to the military blockade, he turns his anger on those around him. He blames their inferiority for his current situation, not the actual government literally blocking the area off. While Seoul Station doesn’t blame the outbreak on the government, it still portrays them as caring less about their individual citizens’ safety than it does about maintaining order. They also take no responsibility for their actions, claiming that the trapped people are “participating in an unlawful assembly,” completely ignoring the zombies terrorizing them.

Because Seoul Station is a prequel, it’s sort of a foregone conclusion that none of its characters are going to come out on top; by the beginning of Train to Busan, Seoul is almost completely overrun by zombies. The lack of hope compared to Train to Busan’s ending combined with equally heavy social commentary makes Seoul Station a bleak watch, but its insightful themes and realistic characters are worthwhile additions to director Yeon Sang-ho’s cinematic world.

‘Seoul Station’s Ending Is Way Darker Than ‘Train to Busan’s
Image via Next Entertainment World

Although heartbreaking, Train to Busan ends with bittersweet hope. The main character rediscovers the depths of his love for his daughter and sacrifices himself so she can survive. Seoul Station, on the other hand, leans far more into the bitter side of Hye-sun’s situation. After spending the movie rooting for Hye-sun to reunite with her father and boyfriend, the ending reveals that Suk-gyu is not Hye-sun’s father at all – he’s her former abusive pimp looking for revenge for stealing from him. He murders Ki-woong and attempts to rape Hye-sun.

It’s a shocking turn for the story and the audience is left on the edge of their seats wondering how Hye-sun could possibly get away. Sadly, she doesn’t; in the middle of the attempted assault, Hye-sun dies beneath Suk-gyu. And the only catharsis the movie offers is the reveal that she dies from an infected zombie scratch on her foot. As the crazed Suk-gyu tries to revive Hye-sun, she suddenly reanimates and violently rips him apart. It’s tragic that Hye-sun doesn’t survive, but at least in becoming a zombie, she gets to exact revenge on her horribly abusive pimp.

Seoul Station is available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.

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