OUT 6 NOVEMBER

Anyone who caught 2016’s Train To Busan might (understandably) struggle to see how a sequel could either carry on the story or up the ante on its relentless claustrophobic thrills. Thankfully, director Yeon Sang-ho knows exactly how. Returning with new characters, Yeon goes all Aliens on us, vastly expanding the scope while shifting the narrative.

Peninsula picks up the thread four years on, with South Korea draped in darkness and death after being locked away from the rest of the world (the successful containment of a viral contagion may be the film’s least believable plot point). A small team of outcasts is Plissken’d into this hell on Earth to recover a truck full of loot from an earlier, failed heist. Once there, we meet a small family of survivors, hiding from a ruthless militia of armed thugs as much as from the hordes of undead.

Patiently ramping up the tension early, Peninsula goes all-out in the final

hour, providing a thrilling prison break for one protagonist, sublime use of a neon-lit RC car for another, and a Mad Max-style car chase – zombie rain and all – for the whole family.

It’s not as tightly plotted as Busan, while some might find the sped-up action sequences jarring. Yet Peninsula retains its forerunner’s biggest strength: fleshing out its characters into dynamic, empathetic people, which makes the ensuing carnage all the more effective. And most impressively, the finale takes a truly emotional bite out of you. Erlingur Einarsson