‘Concrete Utopia’ is Appreciably More: What to Look for in the Upcoming Film

When it comes to feeding our appetite for horror and dystopia, K-content continues to lead the pack. Plotlines and production value preserve the grandiosity of the Korean portrayal of an apocalypse brought on by catastrophes. What drives us to this grim subgenre is precisely the thing. I figure the likelihood of an unforeseen tomorrow may be what most piques our curiosity; they are convincing in how we handle them and our coping mechanisms. Concrete Utopia—the film at hand by Um Tae-hwa, starring Lee Byung-hun, Park Seo-joon, and Park Bo-young—is a disaster thriller with an analogous tone set for release this August 9.

Centered on Seoul’s “Imperial Palace Apartment” survivors, Concrete Utopia chronicles the backwash of an epic earthquake that decimates the metropolis, leaving everything in shambles. Accompanying Yeong-tak (Lee), the man in charge of the building residents through the trying times, are public servant Min-sung (Park Seo-joon) and his nurse wife, Myung-hwa (Park Bo-young). It deals with destruction and disaster relief if taken as a standalone film, but I suppose there’s also some dark and gallows humor going on, more employed when referencing fatality or circumstances evocative of dying, as in this story.

The ambitious project is a film version of Pleasant Bullying, the second installment of Kim Soong-nyung’s webtoon. It’s quite an attraction that seems technically promising in light of the trailer visuals. Speaking at a press conference for the film, Lee said, “The scope of the movie is huge, along with the sounds and various scenes, so seeing this film in theaters compared to watching it on a TV set will be a different experience in my view.” Courtesy Korea Now.

The large edifice and its harrowing story in the wake of a cataclysm were painstakingly put together on the film sets, according to the Korean media. It cost the computer graphics team two years to analyze Seoul’s topography before integrating it into the work for accuracy, director Um revealed at the press conference. I believe that performers instinctively do well in keeping with the spirit when such care and attention to detail are put into constructing the context. Given that, it stands to reason that the stellar cast will further accentuate the narrative’s flair.

I’m eagerly awaiting its release. Emotional upheavals will surely permeate the intense adrenaline experience. And the repercussions would be colossal, with three superstars taking center stage. Blending realism with state-of-the-art computer graphics, it will serve as the epicenter of mounting suspense, and, braving the tempest, Park Seo-joon and Park Bo-young will pull off acts of awesomeness. But that typical “K-drama romance” may not be happening here; this is their first-ever screen time together—and that matters.