Latest entry in Korea's post-apocalyptic franchise goes younger and darker, but the allegory doesn't hold
"It's its own film," Hong Ki-won said.
He'd been fielding variations of the same question since sitting down at Lotte Cinema World Tower on Monday afternoon — what does this have to do with the other works within the franchise, especially 2023's "Concrete Utopia"? The director of "Concrete Market" seemed ready for it. "We share the post-earthquake setting. That's it. New characters, new space, new story."
The franchise in question did leave a mark. "Concrete Utopia" dropped viewers into the rubble of Seoul after a cataclysmic earthquake, following residents of the only apartment complex left standing as they voted to expel outsiders, rationed supplies, and slid into a totalitarian hellscape.
Lee Byung-hun played the s
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