Snowpiercer () is a 2013 post-apocalyptic action thriller film based on the French climate fiction graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette. The film was directed by Bong Joon Ho and written by Bong and Kelly Masterson. An international co-production, the film marks Bong's English-language debut; almost 85% of the film's dialogue is in English.
The film stars Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Go Ah-sung, John Hurt, and Ed Harris, with Park Chan-wook and Lee Tae-hun among the film's producers. It takes place aboard the Snowpiercer train as it travels a globe-encircling track, carrying the last remnants of humanity after a failed attempt at climate engineering to stop global warming has created a new Snowball Earth. Evans stars as Curtis Everett, leader of the lower-class tail-section passengers, as they rebel against the elite of the front of the train. Filming took place at Barrandov Studios in Prague, using train car sets mounted on gimbals to simulate the train's motion.
Snowpiercer received critical acclaim and appeared on many film critics' top ten lists of 2014 after its international release, with praise for its vision, direction, and performances, particularly by Evans and Swinton. In the United States, the film was initially planned for a limited-screen showing, but the critical response prompted The Weinstein Company to expand the showing to more theaters and to digital streaming services. With a budget of $40 million, it remains one of the most expensive South Korean productions ever. The fourth volume of the original Snowpiercer graphic novel series, Snowpiercer: Terminus, published in 2019, serves as a sequel to the film, establishing it as being set in the same continuity as the original graphic novels. The film was also the basis for a television series set in a different continuity that aired from 2020 to 2024, with Bong, Park and Lee serving as executive producers.
Plot
In 2031, 17 years after an attempt to stop climate change via stratospheric aerosol injection with the compound CW-7 catastrophically backfired, creating a new ice age that destroyed life on Earth, the remnants of humanity shelter in a state-of-the-art self-sustaining circumnavigational train, the Snowpiercer, run by reclusive transportation magnate Wilford. The passengers on the train are segregated, with the elite in the extravagant front cars and the poor crammed into squalid tail compartments overseen by armed guards.
Urged by his mentor Gilliam, Curtis Everett and his second-in-command, Edgar, lead the tail passengers in a revolt. They discover that the guards have no ammunition and overwhelm them, freeing Namgoong Minsoo, a captive security specialist. For his assistance, they bribe him with Kronole, an addictive drug made from industrial waste. Namgoong also insists that his clairvoyant daughter, Yona, be freed. Curtis and his fellow revolutionaries discover that the protein bars they were being fed were made of dead cockroaches. Namgoong helps the tail mob advance, but they face guards armed with melee weapons and overseen by Minister Mason. Edgar is held hostage, but Curtis allows him to be killed to capture Mason, forcing her to order the remaining guards to surrender. The tail mob stays back, holding the guards captive, while Curtis takes Mason, Namgoong, Yona, skilled fighter Grey, and Tanya and Andrew (two parents who had their children taken from them) towards the front of the train.
Curtis's group travels through several opulent cars. Namgoong and Yona recognize a landmark outside and speculate that the ice may be thawing more and more with every passing year. The group reaches a schoolroom, where a teacher is indoctrinating the children on Wilford's greatness. A bald man brings eggs for the children to celebrate the train's eighteenth circumnavigation of the Earth. Then the bald man goes to the tail army and shoots them with automatic firearms hidden under the eggs. The captured guards are freed, as is Mason's henchman, Franco. The teacher, who received a gun from the bald man, kills Andrew before Grey kills her. Franco broadcasts to the classroom his execution of Gilliam, which prompts Curtis to execute Mason in turn. Curtis's group moves on, but Franco catches up with them, killing Grey and Tanya. Franco is then seemingly killed by Curtis and Namgoong.
In the last compartment before the engine, Namgoong reveals that he collected the Kronole to use it as an explosive to escape the train with Yona, believing they can now survive outside, pointing out the melting ice. Curtis explains that in the early days of the train, the tail section resorted to cannibalism. Edgar was an infant when Curtis killed his mother, and Curtis was going to eat him when Gilliam offered his severed arm instead, stopping the bloodshed. Curtis wants to confront Wilford for causing such horrors. Wilford's assistant, Claude, emerges from behind the engine room door to invite Curtis inside.
Curtis meets Wilford and, to his shock, learns that he and Gilliam conspired to stage Curtis's rebellion to reduce the tail section's population to sustainable levels. After ordering the execution of most of the tail section residents, Wilford offers Curtis his position leading the train. Curtis appears ready to accept as Yona overpowers Claude, rushes in, and asks for a match. In desperation, she pulls open a floorboard to reveal Tanya's son, Timmy, who has been enslaved to work as a replacement for a broken machine part. Appalled, Curtis pummels Wilford and rescues Timmy from the machinery, losing his arm in the process. Andy, Andrew's missing son, crawls out of a nook and climbs into the engine core despite Curtis's pleas. Curtis gives Yona the match to light the fuse for the Kronole bomb, while Namgoong fights and kills Franco, who followed them. Damaged by the fighting, the door to the engine room cannot be closed, forcing Curtis and Namgoong to use their bodies to protect Yona and Timmy from the blast.
The explosion triggers an avalanche that derails the train and wrecks it. Curtis and Namgoong are unresponsive, so Yona and Timmy escape the wreckage. They see a polar bear in the distance, indicating that life exists outside the train and has not died out, as they were always led to believe.
Cast Chris Evans as Curtis Everett: The leader of the revolution. About the character of Curtis, Evans said, "I mean, for me, the tail section is, I think that's Curtis. I think that's who he is. The tail section is hard; it's grinding; it's tough; it's real. So that's where I had the most fun. Back there." Casting directors suggested Evans to Bong, who initially had misconceptions of Evans before they met due to the "caricature of the American all muscle", but quickly departed from that notion and described Evans as "actually very sensitive and has a quiet and introverted side. He's a very, very smart person, and he's a director." Bong was introduced to the films Puncture and Sunshine where he described Evans's performances as showing his "sensitive acting abilities". Bong and Evans spent months talking about the dialogue, and Bong received help from the cast and crew including Evans due to it being his first English language film. Bong said that for the role of Curtis, hiding Evans's muscular physique was the most difficult thing about working with the actor, explaining, "He's supposed to be in the poor tail section for 17 years, eating only protein blocks, and it was tricky to hide all of that muscle mass with costume and make-up." On whether he was surprised by the fan response, Evans said, "I've been surprised about everything about this movie. Every movie you make, you hope people will enjoy it, but this movie has surpassed all of my expectations across the board." Song Kang-ho as Namgoong Minsoo: The specialist who designed the security features on the train. On taking the role, Song said, "This was the third time I worked with director Bong, and working with director Bong is a wonderful experience.... [T]his time around, working with the wonderful cast members was a tremendous experience." Describing Namgoong, Bong said, "He sets up the ending, because he has a vision about this world that's different from Curtis's. He has a desire to go outside of the train." On the name of the character, Bong stated, "I was looking for a name that would be most difficult for foreigners to pronounce. Namgoong ... it is difficult. There are some name-related jokes in the film." Song plays a character who only speaks Korean, and although as difficult as it was, he said, "at the same time, it was very refreshing and fun to do". Ed Harris as Wilford: The creator and caretaker of the engine. Dustin Hoffman was considered for the role. About the character, Harris said, "He's so built up, who this guy is, and then there's this big thing open, and he's just this old guy making dinner with his robe on, but director Bong really wanted him to be matter-of-fact and very mundane, and simple, and kind of freaky that way." Harris also added that the character is "probably a coagulation of various folks". The role of Wilford was the last to be cast, and it was friend and fellow filmmaker Park Chan-Wook who suggested Harris for the role. Bong stated that Wilford needed to be played by someone with "tremendous presence and performance from the first moment that he appeared in order to convince the audience", adding that "[Harris] turned Wilford into a lively and ironic character with added appeal." On taking the role of Wilford, Harris mentioned, "When I was sent this script, I was told director Bong is a Korean director, and that he'd made some other films, but I had never seen any of them ... I thought they were wonderfully accomplished films, which really made me want to work with the guy. I'm a big fan of his." Harris praised Bong very highly, especially his tendency of editing the piece whilst shooting. Since the film's release, Bong has revealed background information about the character, such as Wilford being bisexual, "He slept with Claude, the Egghead, Mason, and the pregnant teacher. Yet, his 'the One' is the Engine." Tyler John Williams portrays a young Wilford. John Hurt as Gilliam: The spiritual leader of the tail section. Bong first saw Hurt in The Elephant Man while at middle-school, which made him curious about the actor; for the part of Gilliam he wanted an older actor, though one with the ability to "exude the ambience of spirituality". On the character of Gilliam, Hurt said, "He is certainly shadowy, but he is shadowy for a reason. Even though I still am not entirely certain what the reason is," adding, "as far as Gilliam is concerned, he believes in the status quo, but he also sees himself as a true humanitarian. I mean he has literally given his limbs to these people." Hurt stated that the role of Gilliam was physically challenging one at that, because "the fact that I had one leg strapped behind me, trying to stagger around on those not very easy-to-use crutches... and having to make it look like as though I'd been doing it for years." He too acknowledged Bong's encouragement of collaboration in allowing the cast and crew to "interpret things as we want, as we see fit" as well as adding pointers to the act. Hurt said of Bong, "I just fell in love with him. He was wonderful. I hadn't seen anything. I hadn't seen Mother or anything, which I immediately did when I got home. I went, 'Wow, that's the chap I was talking to.' Thank God instinct has left me completely. I adored him then, I adored him ever since." as well as previously adding, "He is quite different but technically, he is as clever as Hitchcock. That's saying something.... He is one of the best directors I've worked with. I absolutely adore working with him."