May 15, 2026 5:30pm PT

‘Colony’ Director Yeon Sang-ho on AI, Individuality and Why Zombies Still Matter

Naman Ramachandran

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Naman Ramachandran

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Yeon Sang-ho’s “Colony” premiered in the Midnight Screenings section at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, marking the “Train to Busan” director’s return to the zombie genre. This time, he infuses it a distinctly contemporary twist that reflects anxieties about artificial intelligence, collective behavior and the erosion of human individuality.

“All along my works, I always tried to express the fear or the horror of today’s society,” Yeon tells Variety. “For me, the greatest fear is the high-speed communication exchange. It’s like a living organism and, in a way, it reduces our individualism, our individuality.”