The squid game actor starred in one of the best zombie movies of all time

South Korean movies and TV shows have provided some unparalleled spectacles of rapturous violence and soul-crushing twists. “Squid Game,” which recently entered its second season, is no exceptionand one of the show's main actors, Gong Yoo, previously starred in another South Korean genre gem.

In The Squid Game, Gong plays a recruiter, an enigmatic and well-dressed agent who entices potential players by challenging them to a game of ddakji. The recruiter's handsome face and friendly demeanor make it easy for his character to convince unsuspecting debtors to try their luck, both in ddakji and then in the mysterious, higher-stakes game.

In “Train to Busan,” that same magnetism draws you in and makes you root for Seok Woo, a divorced workaholic trying to escape a zombie outbreak with his daughter Suan. By now, zombie movies are a tried and true genre; we've seen all sorts of takes on zombies, from the emotionally intense The Last of Us to the parodic Shaun of the Dead. But “Train to Busan” offers much more.

What makes “Train to Busan” one of the best zombie movies of all time is its relentless energy. Much like an express train where the characters are trapped, once it starts, it never starts.

The premise: An infected woman jumps onto an express train full of innocent passengers, who must then avoid a growing horde of zombies. From insane hand-held camera shots to fast-paced editing, we're rocketing into this horrifying situation from which there seems to be no escape. The most horrifying thing about these zombies—besides their twisted, gleeful grins and close-ups of rotting flesh—is that they're fast and driven by a bloodthirsty instinct that's hard to beat. Their savage violence combined with the small, claustrophobic space of the train makes for one adrenaline-filled sequence after another.

But in all this madness, Train to Busan never loses sight of the devastation and human pain of becoming a zombie. We often see close-ups of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and friends and family of all kinds, deeply affected by the transformation of their loved ones into these mindless creatures. “Train to Busan” has a strong emotional core even in its scariest scenesleading to an incredibly moving finale. Train to Busan explores the heartbreaking flip side of losing control and becoming a monster, while also showcasing apocalyptic action. You get to see a lot more of Gong Yoo's acting skills in this movie, as his role as a recruiter in “Squid Game” is a minor one, although he is the main one.