Review of Snowpiercer /설국열차, directed by Bong Joon-ho

This movie first came out when I was thirteen, and while I had no idea it existed at the time, I sure as heck knew about it by the time I got to college. My college experience was partially fueled on the nostalgia I felt for South Korea, as I had studied abroad there through a fully funded government scholarship and loved it.

That said, I had the incredible opportunity my sophomore year to attend a love of movie premieres or indie spaces, as I was living and going to school in New York City. When Parasite came out, I knew I had to see it immediately, and even had the chance to go to a talk with Bong Joon-ho, Song Kang-ho, and Park So-dam at IFC.

Snowpiercer was a movie I had seen several years prior, when I was in high school, I was just getting into movies and rented a bunch with my iTunes gift card, and I watched this one eagerly. It was my first Bong Joon-ho movie, if we’re going to get technical about it.

I thought to revisit it lately, which is how this review came out. It’s been about five or six years at the time of writing this, and a lot of things certainly have changed for me professionally and personally.

Here’s my review!

In a train where the compartments are broken down by class, chaos is about to break out.

In this movie, the year is 2031, and the world as we know it has completely changed. Humans tried to stop climate change almost two decades prior with an injection into the atmosphere, but this completely ruined everything and a new ice age happened instead.

Humans fled to a train in order to escape the ramifications of this, and the train is pretty self-sustaining. Called Snowpiercer, it segregates people based on class, with the poor people crowded into the back sections of the train and guarded by armed guards, and the elite crusts of society in the front.

Our protagonist is Curtis, who is encouraged by his mentor to lead a revolt of the poorer people int he back of the train. They find a man called Namgoong Minsoo, who was held captive. He previously was a security specialist, and they have to bribe him with a drug in order to get him to help.

They also agree that they need to free his daughter Yona, too. Thus begins the revolt, and the poorer people lead the charge towards the armed guards. Curtis’ second-in-command, Edgar, is sacrificed and killed in this conflict, and the good bulk of the people now hold the armed guards hostage while a select few move forward in the train.

As they progress through each train car, they realize the level of wealth they had been denied access to. When looking out the window, they realize that the ice outside of beginning to thaw as well, which might be a sign of something good for everyone.

The next major event is they run into a group of kids being taught by a teacher. As a man brings them eggs, he shoots at the newcomers, as there were guns underneath the eggs, and the guards held captive are freed. The teacher shoots them, too, and then they escape.

However, they lose Andrew, Grey, and Tanya in the process. The group ventures forward, and almost reaches the front of the train. Namgoong tells them about how he collected the drug from before, as he knows it is an explosive. He wanted to blow the train up and live in the outside world with his daughter.

We also learn that the poor people on the train were once subject to cannibalism, and when the door to the next car opens, Namgoong is left wounded by Wilford’s assistant Claude. Curtis is allowed inside, where he then discovers the revolt was orchestrated to level off of the population of those in the tail section of the train.

Curtis is offered a chance to lead the train, but Yona rushes in and asks for matches. She also opens up the floorboard, and we see Tanya’s son, who she was looking for, working in the engine. Curtis sees this and knocks Wilford out, grabbing Timmy and losing an arm doing so.

Curtis then gives Yona a match, and she lights the bomb as her father kills Franco. We then see Andrew’s son emerge from the shadows and go into the engine, refusing to do anything about his situation. Curtis and Namgoong then shield the children from the explosion, as no one can get out.

The train gets caught in an avalanche, and Yona and Timmy leave behind the wreckage. Curtis and Namgoong are not responding to anything, but they see a polar bear in the distance, implying life can still survive here.

Overall Thoughts

I think Snowpiercer is a classic Bong Joon-ho movie, especially considering the class themes and environmental struggles that come up within it. I see it as a more serious version of The Host, and when I mean serious, there are no jokes really that would make one chuckle out loud at this film.

That said, I think everyone should watch this movie. Climate change and class inequality go hand in hand, so if we get to a point of no return, the ones who are going to be impacted the most are the poor people from the Global South.

Go watch this one if you haven’t already.

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