Day 28 - Train to Busan
Released last year, this Korean zombie film is available on Netflix and you should watch it now if you haven't already, because holy wow is this one a ride.
Putting the running theme of empathy to the hardest test it can be put in: a survival situation, there are few films with both physical and emotional stakes that are taken this high.
A divorced, inadvertently selfish father takes his daughter to go see her mother in Busan, but a zombie virus has begun and has spread to passengers in the train.
Keeping the concept and story simple, what's complicated are the emotions that the characters go through. Almost all of the characters are three dimensional and interesting without giving a bunch of explanation as to who they are.
The only character who I could consider stock is a man who does many despicable, unforgivable things, all in the name of survival. It seems like he's purely put there to emotionally manipulate the audience into hating him, but even he still technically has a justification for his actions so he doesn't quite fall into that trope.
The visuals are great, with some really unique zombie action (these are the modern, 28 Days Later fast zombies, not the classic slow ones).
The emotional aspect is played up right to the point of saccharine but it never crosses that line, and there's plenty of action and zombie gore to satisfy the hardcore horror fans.
This is definitely one I don't want to spoil, but I will say that I was at the edge of my seat the entire time, and by the last third I was floating in mid-air, almost literally glued to the screen. Go watch it.
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