"At this altitude, we need only seven minutes."

More than a decade after Snowpiercer's release, this line still chills me to the bone. Bong Joon Ho’s 2014 post-apocalyptic film is set on a version of Earth where temperatures plummeted to unsurvivable levels after a disastrous attempt at a fast chemical fix for global warning. Humanity’s only survivors live aboard a train called Snowpiercer, which is perpetually following a circular track. The front of the train is home to residents with status and power, called "front-enders," while the back of the train — known as the “Tail” — is home to the lower class, who live in horrific conditions and subsist on a Soylent Green-esque jelly that’s eventually revealed to be made of crushed roaches. (At least it isn’t made of people, I guess?)

Protagonist Curtis Everett (Chris Evans) hopes to upset the unfair status quo by initiating a revolt, but pushing back against a despotic regime naturally draws attention. Andrew (Ewen Bremner), a Tail resident, understandably freaks out when front-ender soldiers seize his young son Andy (Karel Vesely) for unclear purposes. Furious at this injustice, Andrew throws a shoe at the woman overseeing the soldiers, hitting her in the head. The Snowpiercer's second-in-command, Minister........

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