Cannes 2026 Review: ‘Colony’ Is a Brainless Zombie Spectacle

When Yeon Sang-ho unleashed ‘Train to Busan’ onto the world, it briefly revived the zombie genre back to life. The film felt refreshing at a time when audiences had grown numb to the undead. I skipped the sequel, but now he returns with another zombie outbreak narrative in ‘Colony’. The premise is closer to a contained biological horror thriller like ‘Resident Evil’ than a traditional zombie apocalypse. This time, however, the inspiration feels less subtle.

The film borrows heavily from ‘The Last of Us’ premise of a mutated fungus that hijacks human hosts and transforms people into a violent collective organism. Here, the “collective” zombie idea shifts toward ant colonies. Like the HBO show, the infected do not simply attack indiscriminately; they appear to function with a shared intelligence. They move as if governed by a hive mind. It would have been a fascinating concept if we hadn’t seen it before. The film also mostly takes place within a mall, which is a clear nod to George A. Romero’s excellent ‘Dawn of the Dead’.

However, ‘Colony’ never meaningfully expands on its influences. It merely repackages familiar ideas, and that becomes one of its biggest shortcomings. The dialogue is often unintentionally comical and the plot progression no better. At one point, survivors resort to communicating through a WhatsApp group. The film offers lines like: “If they communicate as one, so should we.” Who would have thought that one of humanity’s greatest weapons in a zombie apocalypse would be group texting?

The plot spirals into increasingly ridiculous territory. Before long, we are dealing with monkey zombies, zombies using guns, and, in perhaps the film’s most hilarious moment, a zombie opening and reading the group chat. Any lingering horror gradually gives way to farce. A coordinated enemy should, in theory, be more frightening. Instead, the infected often behave according to whatever the plot demands in a given moment. One scene suggests collective intelligence; another has them acting with cartoonish incompetence. This inconsistency in tone undermines the film’s suspense factor.

That said, ‘Colony’ deserves credit for the physicality of its infected. Their acrobatic movements and eerie synchronisation are genuinely impressive and undeniably cool. Once you accept what kind of film it wants to be, ‘Colony’ becomes easier to enjoy. This is not the tense, claustrophobic horror of zombie masterpieces like ‘REC’ by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. It is a chaotic spectacle, closer in tone to Sharknado than anything resembling real horror. There’s some pleasure in watching the madness unfold. ‘Colony’ may not have much on its mind, but neither do its zombies. Oddly enough, that becomes part of the fun. But only up to a point. You see, making it all the way to the end depends largely on one’s tolerance for cinematic nonsense.