Parents' Guide to Peninsula (Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula)

Movie NR 2020 116 minutes
Peninsula movie poster: A gang of armed people point guns at zombies in the shadows.

Common Sense Media Review

Tom Cassidy By Tom Cassidy , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

Lifeless South Korean zombie sequel has gory violence.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Peninsula: Two young South Korean men stand in a fight arena, one with his top off the other with a machine gun.
  • Peninsula: Three South Korean people, a young girl, an older man, and a teen girl look tired and dirty.
  • Peninsula: A South Korean man with shoulder-length hair excitedly holds a button while his gang laughs.

Parent and Kid Reviews

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What's the Story?

In PENINSULA, four years have passed since the zombie outbreak and South Korea is shut off to the world. Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won), a former South Korean Marine Corps Captain, returns looking for a truck that is said to contain vast riches. But what he finds is a city run by the lawless Unit 631, as well as a family surviving against the odds.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

There's no shortage of zombie movies so any that try to chew their way into genre need to stand out. Following 2016's frenetic hit Train to Busan, Peninsula (the third installment of the series) lacks the energy of the first movie. It instead delivers a mawkish, melodramatic morality tale with lacklustre action scenes. Its long, drawn out CGI set pieces feel weightless and dull, with no tension or excitement to be found on the derelict streets of South Korea. Meanwhile, the human violence feels cruel and torturous, which is jarring against the neon-lit comedic efforts and the movie's misjudged cutesy little girl character. There's a handful of ideas and memorable individual shots but as a whole, Peninsula is a big disappointment.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in Peninsula. Did you think it was extreme or do you expect to see gory scenes in zombie movies? How did it compare to ther zombie films you've seen?

  • Why do you think movies and books about the undead are so popular?

  • Did you find the movie scary? What was most scary about it? What's the appeal of horror movies?

Movie Details

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Peninsula movie poster: A gang of armed people point guns at zombies in the shadows.

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