WHAT’S IT ABOUT
In a fight for survival against a horrifying army of zombies, a former Muay Thai fighter must use skill, speed and grit to save his girlfriend.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Netflix has just released a new zombie picture titled in Ziam, and it is just like the title indicates. Think about it like this: a hard guy uses martial arts to bust zombie skulls in a hospital, no plot whatsoever. At times, that’s all that is needed. The story takes place in Thailand, where the world is already in a bad situation before the zombies arrived, with Climate Change disrupting the food supply, and people barely getting by subsisting on ‘bug’ based foods. The government controls everything, and no surprise, the rich control all the good food while the rest of the world scrounged for scraps. A fairly stable “global apocalypse” scenario that zombie movies love to play with. The head honcho of our story is a driver named Singh, who illegally transports goods around Bangkok. Singh used to be talented Muay Thai fighter, the unfortunate fighting prowess comes in handy when the zombies emerge. Singh’s girlfriend is a doctor, Rin, who works for a hospital. She is always telling him to find a safer job. Where does the narrative choose to go, of course, he ends at ‘zombie central’. Just like that, the Muay Thai skillset is needed to rescue her. Director Kulp Kaljareuk clearly watched a lot of zombie movies and martial arts films before making this one. You can see influences from classics like The Raid and the Ong-Bak series. The movie doesn’t try to hide where it got its ideas from, which is fine. Sometimes borrowing from the best works out well. The action scenes are decent but not amazing. Singh fights his way through the hospital using everything he can find as weapons. Medical equipment becomes zombie-smashing tools, and the Muay Thai moves look pretty cool when they connect. These zombies are fast and creepy, the scary type that run (instead of shamble) at you. The zombies spit blood and as the movie goes on, they get grosser which provides some nice gross-out moments in the movie. But here’s where it gets interesting. Singh is practically a superhero that never has a sense of worry. He walks into a zombie-infested hospital like it’s a grocery store. Most zombie movies work because the heroes feel scared and vulnerable, but Singh just starts kicking heads without breaking a sweat. It’s fun to watch, but it makes the danger feel fake. The movie also has some serious character problems. Singh has zero personality beyond being good at fighting and loving his girlfriend. We learn almost nothing about him as a person. Rin gets slightly more development because she actually acts scared when zombies try to eat her, which makes sense. There’s also a rich guy trapped in the hospital who represents everything wrong with their society, but the movie doesn’t really explore that idea. The world-building starts strong, but then gets ignored. The opening states how climate change and greedy corporations are responsible for the issues, but once the zombies show up, the movie completely abandons any of those broader themes. It feels like the filmmakers had ideas that were more interesting in mind that they ultimately abandoned in favor of fighting. That, to me, is really disappointing. The social commentary had the potential to make this movie much more interesting. Ziam runs about ninety minutes, which feels right for this kind of movie. It’s set almost entirely in the hospital, which helps keep things focused. The building becomes like a maze where Singh has to fight through different floors to reach Rin. Each level gets more dangerous, and the obstacles keep growing bigger. The special effects work well enough for a Netflix production. The zombies look gross and threatening, even if they’re not particularly creative. The blood and gore hit the right notes for fans of violent movies. The fight choreography shows off the Muay Thai style nicely, especially when Singh fights other humans instead of just zombies. What hurts the movie most is how safe it plays everything. Zombie films have been around for a long time, so new ones need to bring something fresh to stand out. Ziam’s addition of martial arts is cool, but it’s not enough to compensate for the thin plot and weak characters. The movie hints at deeper ideas about class struggle and environmental disaster, but never follows through. The pacing also drags in the middle section. Following a powerful set up which displays Singh’s fighting ability, the film slows for some character moments that don’t add much to the story as viewers. The filmmaker hopes to use these moments to deepen the audience’s attachment to Singh and Rin, but it feels futile since nothing even indicates we know much about these characters. The final battle picks up the action, we are back in the fun, but there is nothing new being created, so it is not terribly thrilling. If you’re looking for mindless entertainment on a lazy afternoon, Ziam delivers enough thrills to keep you watching. The combination of martial arts and zombie horror creates some fun moments, even if it’s not groundbreaking. Think of it as a B-movie with better production values than most. The movie works best when it embraces its silly premise and just lets Singh kick zombie butt. When it tries to be serious or meaningful, the weak writing becomes obvious. Director Kaljareuk knows how to stage action scenes, but he needed a stronger script to make this really memorable. Ziam isn’t terrible, but it’s not great either. It’s the kind of movie that horror fans might enjoy once but probably won’t remember next month. Netflix has produced better zombie content, such as Kingdom and All of Us Are Dead, so this feels like a step backward. Still, if you want to see someone use Muay Thai on the undead, this scratches that very specific itch.
OUR RATING – A THAI ZOMBIE 5