Ziam review
Netflix brings us a pretty good zombie movie from Thailand that would have benefited from a deeper exploration of its best ideas.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Ziam
Directed by Kulp Kaljareuk
Screenplay by Kulp Kaljareuk, Nut Nualpang and Weerasu Worrapot
Starring Prin Suparat, Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich, Wanvayla Boonnithipaisit, Johnny Anofone and Pimmada Boriruksuppakorn
Ziam Review
Netflix doesn’t advertise it well…but it’s a surprisingly good outlet for foreign horror films. It drops some quality feature films with little to no fanfare quite regularly. The streamer also goes out of its way to make them as accessible as possible to viewers. Ziam, like most foreign drops, has over twenty language options for people who don’t want to deal with subtitles. This isn’t the forum to debate the value of watching a movie in its original language…anything that gets people to interact with horror is a net positive in my book. I’ll just say that you should try to watch Ziam (or any foreign film) in its native language because that represents the original production quality and move on to the review.
Ziam comes from Thailand. Thailand isn’t a region whose horror films I am overly familiar with…though there is an upcoming episode of the Scare Value Podcast dedicated to 2004’s Shutter you should be on the lookout for. The title of the movie confused me enough to eventually google it. Apparently, it’s a play on Siam (Thailand’s original name) with a Z replacing the S because…you know…zombies. It’s clever. It’s not the only thing about Ziam that is. Even if it doesn’t always commit itself to what makes it work.
Climate change has caused mass starvation and Thailand is struggling to survive. When some contaminated fish inadvertently lead to a zombie outbreak inside a hospital…Muay Thai fighter Singh (Prin Suparat) must fight his way through to save the love of his life Rin (Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich).
Let’s start with the positives. A Muay Thai fighter battling his way through a hospital full of infected is an awesome plot. Ziam ups the difficulty by saddling Singh with a child looking for his mother in the outbreak. There are some fun action scenes featuring hand to…zombie combat. Like most zombie movies, Ziam also puts a ticking clock on its action. The outbreak is contained to the hospital…which means that someone is inevitably going to order its destruction. Singh is tasked with saving Rin, protecting a child, and escaping the hospital before it blows. With nothing but his Muay Thai skills to help him.
The background of the outbreak is another interesting wrinkle. Using real world situations as the catalyst for a zombie outbreak appropriately grounds a fantastical story. There’s a backstory involving a powerful man and his sick wife at the heart of the tainted fish inciting incident. It’s certainly more interesting than dropping us into an unknown post-apocalyptic world.
Singh makes for a strong protagonist. He’s a badass fighting through hallways of undead with a passionate, sensitive reason for his brutality. The save the cat moment in Ziam makes the cat into that lost child…and forces Singh to save him repeatedly. The child’s story arc reaches a moving conclusion midway through the story…but Singh’s protector role extends far beyond it.
Ziam features plenty of blood and Singh’s journey leads to a strong resolution. There’s plenty of positives here to make this an easy movie to recommend spending an hour and a half with if you’re already subscribed to Netflix. There is, however, a big caveat that keeps Ziam from reaching its full potential as a fun zombie action movie.
Ziam struggles to understand what makes it work far too often. When you read the plot summary you may picture something like The Raid with zombies. A non-stop action thrill ride featuring a strong protagonist fighting his way from hall to hall. Ziam has moments like that…but not as many as you’d like. It slows down too often to maintain a high energy feel. Sometimes, as is the case with the payoff of the child’s search for his mother, it leads to genuinely worthwhile scenes. Other times…it feels like it’s just killing time. There’s a way to use cool down spots to generate suspense. Ziam doesn’t find it.
Despite some choppiness in how Ziam delivers its story…the story still has enough fun and action (and blood) to keep it moving from start to finish. Singh’s noble quest to beat zombies about the face with his fists is a good watch. At least when Ziam remembers that’s what people want.
Scare Value
Ziam crafts an intriguing premise for its outbreak…and creates an exciting story to place inside of it. The result is great…when it decides to lean into those things. Unfortunately, both the cause of the dilemma and the battle fought after it occurs are only pieces to a puzzle that doesn’t reach its full potential. It’s still a good movie. A fun lead character, some nice action scenes, plenty of blood and a strong ending make up for most of the periods where Ziam drifts away from what makes it soar.
2.5/5
Ziam Link
Streaming on Netflix
