Ziam Review
Director: Kulp Kaljareuk
Date Created: 2025-07-09 16:33
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Ziam Review: This Thai action zombie movie ปากกัด ตีนถีบ is directed by Kulp Kaljareuk aka Tent. The movie lasts 1 hour and 36 minutes and stars Mark Prin Suparat as Sing (a veteran boxer who hangs up his gloves). His doctor girlfriend Rin is played by Nychaa Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich. The movie also stars Johnny Anfone, Pim Pimmada, Jason Young, Oak Keerati and others. On its face, the film might appear to be another zombie flick—but it possesses a special, Thai spin and a martial arts kick that make it worth a try, even if it falls a bit short.
In post-apocalyptic Thailand, Ziam is about Sing, who simply yearns to lead a peaceful existence beyond the ring. Plans get derailed, though, when a zombie outbreak in the hospital where Rin works takes place. Sing must rise again, not with gloves in a boxing ring but with fists and kicks on the streets, to save Rin and a boy who, inexplicably, has awakened during the mayhem. It is not a typical zombie film, and that is both a strength and a weakness.
Ziam Review
First of all, I want to say how much I was looking forward to enjoying Ziam. As someone who has been watching so much zombie stuff like Train To Busan, All of Us Are Dead, The Walking Dead, Cargo and many more, I’m always interested when a new country does something new with this genre. Because Thai movies are quite well known to be quite strong in plot and emotions, and yes, that is what I was looking for in Ziam Thai movie, add to it some Muay Thai action, I thought, this movie would be totally thrilling to watch.
Netflix’s Ziam succeeds best for its commitment to style. The filmmakers took a risk by blending old-school Muay Thai fighting techniques with the zombie apocalypse. Not something you see every day. The movie had a chunky, physical edge because of the stuff, watching Sing use his elbows, knees and close-range fighting to exist. I really appreciated how the fights had been choreographed so that they were hard-hitting and brutal without going full slow-motion superhero.
But soon enough, the hand-to-hand fighting begins to feel more gimmick than survival. It’s neat at first to watch someone landing punches on zombies—it’s new, it’s raw, and it’s attention-grabbing. But the longer the movie lasts, you find yourself wondering why Sing isn’t grabbing a stick, a knife, or whatever to actually kill them. The zombies just charge and bite—they’re not professional fighters. So seeing the same punches and elbows ad infinitum starts to feel repetitive. I kept thinking, “There’s gotta be a smarter way out of this,” but the movie doesn’t even attempt that. It’s maddening because it had so much potential to do more.
The story is fairly simple. Zombie film Ziam, though, doesn’t actually have much of a story or any kind of depth of emotion. Sing wishes to rescue Rin. Rin is in danger. The military’s just attempting to blow everything up. That’s it. No twist of destiny, no shocking character reveal, no backstory that actually draws you into the leads’ universe. I wanted to care, but there’s just too little in the movie to make me.
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Mark Prin Suparat is great as Sing. You can tell he’s giving it a shot here, and physically, he’s great. For good or ill, those scenes are more interesting than the plot with Rin, which feels underwritten. She plays the “damsel in distress” stereotype without much personality or strength. It would’ve been nice to see her do more than just cry or wait to be rescued.
On a positive note, I have to praise the zombie makeup! The undead in Ziam are truly disgusting-looking. They’re gnarled and bloody and appalling. And some scenes, especially in the hospital corridors, actually managed to get my heart racing. It looks gritty, the set design is frenetic and dangerous. It was also a good decision to stay with practical effects when most would have gone for CGI.
All that aside, the movie’s frights are predictable. If you’ve watched a couple of horror films, you won’t have difficulty knowing when a person is being transformed into a zombie or staggering out of an alley. The film doesn’t construct clever tension. It’s all rapid cuts and jarring sounds. Sometimes, some of the action scenes look copied from other zombie movies, which is a shame because the film actually has the potential to be different.
Thai Movie Ziam Review: Summing Up
Overall, this movie is a decent try, but not an excellent one. The cultural differences didn’t irk me, but the plot was okayish, and the pacing was slow. The zombie film Ziam tries to be different, but it forgets that we need characters to get invested in and a plot that sticks with us. The film is zippy but hardly has any heart.
A Muay Thai kick-laden zombie action movie is an ambitious foray. It’s a blend of two hyper-kinetic genres, but doesn’t do full justice to either. If you love films set in a post-apocalyptic world, then you can give this a try. Just don’t think it’s going to be your new favourite apocalypse flick or anything.
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