CONCRETE UTOPIA (2024)

A massive earthquake measuring 14 on the scale of Richter completely wipes Seoul off the map, leaving behind a gigantic, 600-km2 junkyard of concrete, dust and countless bodies that lay buried underneath the rubble. Only the Hwang Gung tower and its hundred modest apartments still stands tall among the ruins. Thousands of survivors all want to secure a room before winter comes, but, you see, the market price for a joint on the block has gone through the roof and is now paid… in blood. Only certified residents can have access to the domain. Trespassers will have to deal with the building manager’s militia. Inhumane? Perhaps, but that’s the price to pay to keep this utopia viable. Except, even internally it’s quickly turning into a dystopia under the reckless rule of the totalitarian regime in place…
South Korea’s submission for the Oscars is a phenomenal, multi-faceted blockbuster. It’s grand spectacle, disaster movie, post-apocalyptic thriller, subtle analysis of and metaphor for today’s society all balled up in one tantalizing experience. Dense, powerful and ambitious, much like Um Tae-hwa’s previous flick, VANISHING TIME: A BOY WHO RETURNED (BIFFF 2017).