'Snowpiercer' takes humanity to it's go-to of greed and power after the apocalypse, aboard a train with survivors circling a frozen Earth.
Is surviving the end of the world heaven, or hell? Picture: Supplied
When the pandemic hit and lockdown dropped on us like a wet blanket, it felt like the end of the world as we know it (apologies to REM).
Over the past year and a half, it’s starting to feel like that again with the world at war, fuel prices squeezing the life out of us, and back home, well, you know it.
But what happens when the end of the world is nigh, then occurs, and we survive? Well, some of us, anyway.
Since the pandemic, Snowpiercer has shown us the future of climate change, and humanity’s endeavour to prevent it, crash and burn. Or, in this case, the hell people create for themselves freezes over. And that’s because rather than cooling the planet a little, scientists manage to turn it into an ice-covered wasteland.
The remnants of civilisation, those who could afford the hefty ticket price and their underlings, have taken refuge aboard Snowpiercer, a gigantic train that endlessly circles the globe, powered by an extraordinary engine designed by a mysterious Mr Wilford.
The train is supposedly humanity’s last refuge, but surviving the apocalypse created by us didn’t cure people of the human condition. The obsession with wealth, privilege, and who’s got rank and who’s rank and file.
Climate change apocalypse
The show, with three seasons presently available on Netflix, is based on a French graphic novel that also inspired the 2013 Korean film. A fourth and final season has also been produced.
So, on Snowpiercer, keeping with the theme of caste, passengers are divided accordingly.
The wealthy enjoy luxury accommodation, fine dining and the comforts of a civilisation gone forever. Further back, conditions deteriorate until you reach the back of the very, very long train.
This is where the poorest passengers live in overcrowded, miserable circumstances, surviving on barely enough food and the occasional mercy of those running the train.
Enter Andre Layton, a former homicide detective and one of the butt-end’s reluctant leaders, who becomes involved in investigating a murder aboard Snowpiercer.
His investigation takes him through the train’s various social divisions and exposes the machinery of power keeping its passengers in line. Melanie Cavill, the formidable woman overseeing the train’s operations, has plenty of secrets of her own.
It’s a stunning series visually, first of all. And then, when it comes to imagination, it’s all there. Snowpiercer is exactly how you may contemplate this train to be. The nooks, crannies, the entire construct and room to manoeuvre the plot within its confines, exceptionally well done.
Jennifer Connelly as Cavill and Daveed Diggs as Layton deliver fabulous performances as two characters who are frequently at odds, yet have more in common than either would care to admit.
Sean Bean, as the sinister Joseph Wilford, oozes excess and meanness in abundance. The balance of the supporting cast is just as lekker in-character.
Watch the trailer
But Snowpiercer is more than just a futuristic piece of fantasy.
Between the lines, quite obviously so, is the glaring challenge of class and segregation which we face every day. It starts wars, ignites acts of terrorism, and damages lives psychologically and physically. Yet we keep on doing it. Humanity always chases its own tail, doesn’t it?
The train is a microcosm of what we call civilisation, complete with its own economy, police state, political manoeuvring, and inequalities.
Revolutions threaten the established order, loyalties change, and the question of who deserves to survive hangs over the entire population of the choo-choo like a permanent sword of Damocles.
Of course, the tension is exacerbated by leadership challenges, a possible rebirth of the planet and famine, among other threats.
And while the plot sometimes becomes a little convoluted, there is enough suspense, intrigue and outright nastiness to keep you watching.
Beyond the narrative, Snowpiercer is a fascinating collage of what-ifs and ‘Damnit, people are people no matter what’. Old habits and hatred seem somehow ingrained into our DNA.
Snowpiercer is fascinating. It is riveting, and it asks the kind of questions that we should be asking ourselves irrespective of whether the world ended or not.
In a sense, it’s a social wake-up call dressed up as a thriller, without being overbearing in its message.
Rather, the show tells us that it is what it is; or is it? And does it have to be?
