A huge earthquake devastates South Korea’s capital city, Seoul, and the only thing left standing is one apartment block. The remaining residents form a collective to decide how to ensure their survival, and in doing so, find their own moral compasses in turmoil.
Concrete Utopia is South Korea’s official Academy Awards submission and is based on Kim Soong-Nyung’s Webtoon Cheerful Outcast part 2, Cheerful Neighbor. Director Um Tae-Hwa offers a survival thriller set in a dystopian Seoul in the aftermath of a massive earthquake. One apartment block remains standing, and becomes a point of refuge for survivors and residents in a cold spell hitting minus 25°C – but with supplies running low, the residents’ collective decides to put themselves first and evict non-residents. Combined with the problems of their own struggles to survive, the consequences of turning on the outsiders strains each moral compass to its limits.
The cast is led by Lee Byung-hun, playing elected Resident Delegate Young-tak. Overlooked at first, an unexpected stroke of valour marks him out as a leader, and he sets about organising a community in which everyone has a role and is rewarded accordingly. Young-tak also has a complex back story which is only later revealed, and Lee Byung-hun adeptly runs a range of emotions, leaving us with the feeling that he is as much oppressed as oppressor. In another apartment, Myung-hwa (Park Bo-young) is a younger woman who wants everyone to get on together to survive, and is horrified at the thoughts of what her husband – former apprentice police officer and now civil servant husband Min-sung (Park Seo-jun) – may be doing every time he leaves the safety of the apartment block. Elsewhere, Do-kyun (Kim Do-yoon) tries to stick to his principles but finds himself becoming increasingly isolated.
The switch from collective to ‘us and them’ happens subtly and is clearly suggestive of fascism; and some of the language – “Internal cleansing – only true residents will remain” – is quite chilling.
Concrete Utopia, for all that it is a survival thriller, has another proposition too. Through its array of characters, it poses the question ‘what would I do in such extreme circumstances?’
This is the nub of things; it’s not about the kick of collapsing buildings or the desperate scavenging for food and water. Concrete Utopia wants you to look inside yourself and discover your own moral limits. In many respects, the film’s themes invoke some of those shared by Korean maestro Bong Joon-ho (Snowpiercer and Parasite spring to mind), with climate change, lack of housing, and social inequality playing a prominent role.
Not having read the webtoon, it’s difficult to comment on whether the film’s ending is a reflection of that or a change made for cinema audiences. Either way, a choice was made and it is the film’s weakest point as far as this viewer is concerned. Other opinions are, of course, available. But overall, Concrete Utopia offers a solid story with some fine acting and thought-provoking themes for our time.
Concrete Utopia opens on Friday 8th December 2023 at Regal Union Square in New York, and at TCL Chinese Theatre and AMC Burbank 16 in Los Angeles. Expands nationwide starting 15th December.
A huge earthquake devastates South Korea’s capital city, Seoul, and the only thing left standing is one apartment block. The remaining residents form a collective to decide how to ensure their survival, and in doing so, find their own moral compasses in turmoil.
Concrete Utopia is South Korea’s official Academy Awards submission and is based on Kim Soong-Nyung’s Webtoon Cheerful Outcast part 2, Cheerful Neighbor. Director Um Tae-Hwa offers a survival thriller set in a dystopian Seoul in the aftermath of a massive earthquake. One apartment block remains standing, and becomes a point of refuge for survivors and residents in a cold spell hitting minus 25°C – but with supplies running low, the residents’ collective decides to put themselves first and evict non-residents. Combined with the problems of their own struggles to survive, the consequences of turning on the outsiders strains each moral compass to its limits.
The cast is led by Lee Byung-hun, playing elected Resident Delegate Young-tak. Overlooked at first, an unexpected stroke of valour marks him out as a leader, and he sets about organising a community in which everyone has a role and is rewarded accordingly. Young-tak also has a complex back story which is only later revealed, and Lee Byung-hun adeptly runs a range of emotions, leaving us with the feeling that he is as much oppressed as oppressor. In another apartment, Myung-hwa (Park Bo-young) is a younger woman who wants everyone to get on together to survive, and is horrified at the thoughts of what her husband – former apprentice police officer and now civil servant husband Min-sung (Park Seo-jun) – may be doing every time he leaves the safety of the apartment block. Elsewhere, Do-kyun (Kim Do-yoon) tries to stick to his principles but finds himself becoming increasingly isolated.
The switch from collective to ‘us and them’ happens subtly and is clearly suggestive of fascism; and some of the language – “Internal cleansing – only true residents will remain” – is quite chilling.
Concrete Utopia, for all that it is a survival thriller, has another proposition too. Through its array of characters, it poses the question ‘what would I do in such extreme circumstances?’
This is the nub of things; it’s not about the kick of collapsing buildings or the desperate scavenging for food and water. Concrete Utopia wants you to look inside yourself and discover your own moral limits. In many respects, the film’s themes invoke some of those shared by Korean maestro Bong Joon-ho (Snowpiercer and Parasite spring to mind), with climate change, lack of housing, and social inequality playing a prominent role.
Not having read the webtoon, it’s difficult to comment on whether the film’s ending is a reflection of that or a change made for cinema audiences. Either way, a choice was made and it is the film’s weakest point as far as this viewer is concerned. Other opinions are, of course, available. But overall, Concrete Utopia offers a solid story with some fine acting and thought-provoking themes for our time.
Concrete Utopia opens on Friday 8th December 2023 at Regal Union Square in New York, and at TCL Chinese Theatre and AMC Burbank 16 in Los Angeles. Expands nationwide starting 15th December.
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