Peninsula: Gay-subtext buddy bond in a post-Apocalyptic Korea. But is it ruined by meeting The Girl? With bonus Korean d*cks

 

Link to the n*de dudes

I was drawn to Peninsula (2024) because it's about two men traveling through South Korea during a zombie apocalypse.  But I'm worried:  in Post-Apocalyptic movies, heterosexual romance is obligatory.  The Last Man on Earth will always, inevitably, meet a woman of appropriate age and attractiveness, and they will always, inevitably, fall in love.  But same-sex romance is deemed trivial, irrelevant when you're fighting for survival. 

So I'm only going to watch The Peninsula as far as necessary to see if there's a gay-subtext romance disrupted by Meeting the Girl.

Scene 1: A surprisingly new,un-muddied car drives through the wilderness. The soldier Jung-Seok (Gang Dong-Won, left) is bringing his sister's family, husband, wife, and preteen son, to the refugee ship.  A guy who's been in an accident asks for a ride: "I have a wife and daughter!' he explains, knowing that reprduction makes a man infinitely valuable.  Nope, he drives on.

Gang Dong-won is one of the most famous actors in South Korea.  His wikipedia entry doesn't mention a wife and kids, so I'm going to assume that he's gay.

Scene 2: Cut to a news program with Americans talking about the "deadly virus." Ir started at a bio-factory in South Korea, and spread through the country, causing panic.  It took only one day for the government to shut down.  Wait -- what about the rest of the world?  Doing ok?

Left: Pierce Conran, who plays one of the reporters, is a real-life journalist, a correspondent for the "South China Morning Post," as well as a film producer and distribution consultant.  I assume he is gay because his instagram contains no photos of women, but lots of photos of his cat.

Scene 3: Jung-Seok and the family make it to the very overcrowded refuge ship.  Time passes; they wonder why they haven't reached Japan yet.

Uh-oh, an American soldier tells Jung-Seok that they're being rerouted to Hong Kong.  Japan has fallen?

The American soldier is played by Joey Albright,  top photo,who lives in Seoul and is fluent in Korean, so he gets cast as Americans a lot.  I assume he's gay because he hugs a lot of guys on his Instagram.

Scene 4: In the berth, the nephew's glowing ball rolls away. He follows it to -- uh-oh, an infected guy who just zombified!   Wait -- to affect most people in Korea in one day, it must be airborne, so they all have it, right?  The zombie does that East Asian demon-walk and attacks! 

Meanwhile, Jung-Seok asks the Captain why they have been re-routed to Hong Kong.  He's interrupted by news that there's a zombie aboard the ship.

Left: The Captain is played by John D. Michaels, a Seoul-based actor, writer, director, and in his youth a martial artist.  I assume that he is gay because he's wearing a silly hat in one of his photos.

And because he shows his d*ck online.

More after the break

Scene 6: Jung-Seok pulls his gun and walks through the blood-stained hallways.  A zombie attacks -- he shoots.  By the time he gets to the infected berth, everyone is getting zombified,  including his nephew but not his sister.  It didn't bite them all.  If it's airborne, why isn't the Mom sick?  Her zombie son eats her.

Left: The son is played by Moon Woo-Jin , who is now 16.  I assume that he's gay because...well, who isn't gay?

Scene 7: Jung-Seok closes the berth just as the brother-in-law rushes up.  He hugs him to prevent his entry. They're hugging a lot longer than Americans would.  Different cultural conventions, or are these guys going to end up boyfriends?

Sceone 8: The Amerifcan news show again: when the infected were found on the rescue boats, other countries refused them entry.   And it's been four years. 

Openinig Credits.  So the opening characters have all died?

New Story Scene 1: In a bustling, well-lit city with a lot of Chinese characters and no Korean, a gang enters an apartment to wake up the older, long haired Jung-Seok, who fights them. The boss wants to see him.  How did he get off the ship, if no country let them in?  This looks like Hong Kog,, but the boss says "down to the Peninsula."

To his surprise, Brother-in-Law Chul-Min is waiting to see the boss, too.   "Come on, let's leave," he says.

Left: Gang Dong-Won recommended his good buddy Kim Do-Yoon to play the brother in law.  According to the Korean pop press, they were so close that "unusual" rumors arose about "the nature of their relationship," and they played along. 

Playing along?  Surely they're boyfriends. 

New Story Scene 2: The boss has a job for them: There's a lot of money and gold in the zombie-infested Peninsula, just lying around.  Go get some.

"But the peninsula is highly guarded.  How can we get in?"

"I paid off the Coast Guard."  Why not send some coast guard guys in to get the money?

I'm out of space, so I'll just tell you: They get to Korea.  Chul-Min is killed, and Jung-Seok meets...The Girl.

Heteronormativity triumphs over gay potential yet again.  

Bonus: This review was a little beefcake light, so I'm including Korean actor Seo Ha-Joon and a random Korean guy (on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).

See also: Corey Servier: Dog's best friend, Greek god, Yoga mogul, and shirtless romcom hunk

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