This is a movie that was on my list for quite a long time before I finally got around to it. In the end, there were two things that gave me the last nudge I needed to make time for it. 1) Becoming more interested in Bong Joon-ho’s work after seeing Parasite. 2) Realizing I'd better watch the movie before checking out the TV series set in the same world starring Daveed Diggs. Whatever the reason, I’m immensely glad I finally saw this engrossing film.
17 years after a catastrophic event froze the Earth and made the outside world uninhabitable, the apparent remnants of humanity ride an immense train along a track that circles the planet year after year, living with the constant reminder that to stop would mean freezing to death. Needing to produce everything required to sustain them within the confines of the train, scarce resources have led to a brutal caste system in which high-paying first-class-car passengers live in luxury while the poor stowaways in the tail section fight to survive. One young man named Curtis works to realize a long-time-coming effort to take over the train and secure more humane conditions for himself and the other tail-section passengers.
A couple notes before we get started. First, one of the reasons I was interested in the film in the first place was what I’d heard about its diverse cast, which turned out to be less than I’d anticipated. In a decent-sized ensemble, there are really only three major cast members of color, and its particularly noticeable that this class-based revolution is led primarily by white men. Also, certain aspects of this train society lead to a high number of amputations, meaning that there are multiple able-bodied actors running around playing characters with disabilities. (Seriously, if Hollywood was more dedicated to casting disabled actors in disabled roles, actors with amputated limbs would clean up all over genre film/television.) Finally, the movie was distributed by the Weinstein Company.
Those unfortunate aspects aside, I thought this was a really excellent film. As with the other Bong films I’ve seen, it’s disturbing and brutal as well as artfully and masterfully designed, and it’s deeply political in ways that not many movies are, even explicitly-political ones. I like the detail that goes into depicting how the train is run and the different sub-societies within it. Using the train as a microcosm for society as a whole, with everything compacted into a claustrophobic space under extreme conditions, is an effective metaphor for examining class and subjugation.
It’s just a creative story, too, adapted from a French graphic novel. For me, the best genre stories are frequently the ones that take care with their world-building, and I think this film stacks up well in that regard. No, not everything within the train makes sense to me, but it’s clear that a lot of time went into developing this self-contained world, and that’s reflected in the jargon, the food, the plans for the revolution, the uses of the different cars, the history, and much more.
All the acting is excellent. Chris Evans is of course very good as Curtis, a natural leader who remains reluctant to actually call himself one, and he has a great back-and-forth with Jamie Bell’s Edgar. John Hurt and Ed Harris are both in this film doing what they do best, and Octavia Spencer leaves an impact in her supporting role. The film also features Tilda Swinton, Ewen Bremmer (who I always remember as Spud in Trainspotting,) Alison Pill, and Luke Pasqualino (Freddie from Skins.) But for me, the MVP is Song Kang Ho (who also played the dad in Parasite) as Nam, a former security expert for the train who’s conscripted into the revolution. Song is just so incredibly good in this role – he makes me want to learn everything about Nam.
Warnings
Graphic violence (including amputations,) drinking/smoking/drug use, language, disturbing images, strong thematic elements, able-bodied actors playing characters with disabilities, and involvement by a sexual predator.
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