Snowpiercer (2013)

 

Based off a French comic, this postapocalyptic tale isn't for those expecting some flashy and fun entertainment. Instead, this asks some pretty serious questions and it pulls little to few punches. Once again a well crafted endeavour by director Bong Joon Ho, who you might also know from the out-of-left-field monsterflick 'The Host'. 

Also: Chris Evans rocks. 

In order to halt global warming and climate change, governments across the world have decided to spray some new chemical into the atmosphere in order for the temperature to drop. It works, only a little too well and the Earth turns into a frozen wasteland, killing nearly everything and everyone. There is a massive train that races across the globe, holding the last remnants of the human race in its cars. But things look bleak in the back, as this is where the dregs are confined in tiny spaces, severely oppressed by the people more in the front of the train. This situation has been going on for about 14 years and several insurrections later the poor people still haven't managed to break the hold of the upper class. 

Heck, these poor wretches get offed on a whim. But under the auspices of Curtis (Chris Evans), a daring plan is hatched to fight a way to the engine at the front and get away from the horrendous living conditions in the last few carts. 

Thanks to some luck and above all determination, the group starts to move towards the front, but what they discover cart after cart doesn't bode well... 

As you may have gathered, this doesn't lift your spirits. Instead, we get a pretty gritty and gruesome view of a class society, compressed onto a train but pretty accurately portraying modern class distinctions in society. Yes, it does hit you over the head pretty hard, but that isn't always a bad thing. No one here is a hero or pure evil, very often people are just painfully misguided. 

Take one of the 'evil' people in the shape of Tilda Swinton. She's a total bitch and awful to the poor people, but along the way you learn she is completely delusional in believing that the order on the train is what is always has been and should be. That doesn't make her sympathetic at all, but it does offer a way of understanding why her vision is as skewed as it is. 

The same goes for our 'hero' Curtis, who at one point divulges some of the horrible things he's had to do in order to survive. Maybe not such a hero after all, ey? 

This film doesn't thrive on massive action scenes or incredible visuals. Sure, the landscape outside is pretty, but it's what inside the train that counts, and it's a bloody train. This is about the characters and their survival and everyone is very good at what they do here. Chris Evans shows his range (which is impressive), Tilda Swinton is her outstanding self, and you get some memorable sidecharacters like the ones portrayed by Octavia Spencer and Kang-Ho Song. 

Buit it is all pretty bleak, and the ending might have the inkling of hope, but if you really think about it: everyone is still screwed. 

Still a pretty good film though. And if you like your sci-fi with a dark message, then doubly so.