After the earth is mistreated by the wealthy, a freeze covers the earth. The wealthy attempt to retreat to Snowpiercer, but the poor who have been left behind over run the barricades and take the train. Families are separated with certain death coming to those who are unable to board. You see, Snowpiercer is a train; 1001 cars long. The car continues to circle so that no one inside freezes to death. The rest of the show starts 6 years into the trip. There are of course, the poor thrown into certain cars, people in uniforms, rationed food for the non-wealthy. Women in the poorer classes are being sterilized, and there is literally only one Australian left. One car is working to try to find alliances, as the last time a rebellion tried to arise thirteen people had their arms cut off as punishment. One of the men in third class, Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) was a homicide detective in Detroit before everything went crazy. He is pulled from the car he’s lived in for year and has been recruited to solve a murder. Meanwhile, Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connely) is the woman who makes the announcements everyday and keeps order on Snowpiercer. She seems sympathetic, but it’s pretty clear she’s happy to do what she feels is needed, provided she can hide behind Wilford Industries.
Jennifer Connely is of course, always amazing. She plays a representative from Wilford Industries, the company that built the train for the rich to live in luxury after destroying the entire damn planet. Her job is to greet everyone and keep the wealthy as comfortable as possible, even as they complain about incredibly stupid stuff like whether the Swedish Royalty should be allowed to use the sauna naked. Daveed Diggs is all of us when he’s given his first grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup combo in years.
Snowpiercer starts with animation and then hits you upside the head with regular people desperately trying to get their family members onto a train while being shot at. It’s one part Covid-19, one part World War 2 Germany. Families are separated, and a train takes them away, and even the security forces are known as “jackboots.” It can be a lot if you’re already in a dark mood, so viewers be warned. Snowpiercer is dark as hell.
