Prime’s Top Tier Thriller With 100% Tomatometer Is a Must-Watch for Disaster Movies Fans

Summary:

• The 2023 disaster thriller, available on Prime Video, is now conquering the platform’s top as a solid example of the genre.
• It follows the survivors of a massive earthquake in Seoul and their attempt to build a new society while reconstructing the city.
• It mixes black satire, deep drama and spectacular depiction of the catastrophe.

It may seem that the golden era of the disaster movies had remained in the 2010’s, with such titles as The Impossible (2012), The Wave (2015) and Deepwater Horizon (2016). However, this assumption is completely wrong, and this thriller proves not only that the disaster films are in great demand, but also that they can be made so well today.

Set in the aftermath of an unexpected earthquake, the movie starts by showing that it has reduced Seoul to rubble. In such catastrophic obstacles only one apartment building, called Hwang Gung Apartments, mysteriously remains untouched.

Its residents, considering themselves to be special as if they were chosen by somebody to stay alive, decide to reconstruct the city. Along the way, they begin to confront each other and, moreover, their common dilemmas challenging their moral principles.

Beginning as a black comedy featuring people who are seemingly free to do what they want with society as almost nothing is left of the world around them, it then transforms into a nail-biting thriller. The theme of survival of the human race becomes strongly interconnected with the issues of the life of the community facing a catastrophe.

The movie explores the process of evolving the new society and its inner regulation, including emerging dictators inside of it. By following its characters’ gradual descent into relentless tribalism with the growing aspiration to seize power, it serves as a peculiar allusion to some of the events of today’s world and its conflicts.

As for the assembling cast, the movie’s meanings are supported by the convincing performances of the acclaimed Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game ) as the head of the Hwang Gung’s community and Park Seo-joon (The Marvels ), who played the leader's assistant.

Fans of the genre can recognize here the synopsis of the 2023 South Korean disaster thriller titled Concrete Utopia. Directed by Um Tae-hwa, who is famous for his 2016 fantasy Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned, it gained enormous critical acclaim.

Managing to captivate with its dark comedy, drama and thought-provoking content, this feature serves as a solid example of a disaster movie which doesn’t delve much into CGI and action sequences. It was even chosen as South Korea's official entry to the Oscars despite belonging to the genre, which isn’t traditionally celebrated by the Academy.

Stream Concrete Utopia on Prime, as now it’s climbing the platform’s global top and is receiving more and more positive reviews from the audience.