Most critics welcome Train to Busan as an energetic zombie thriller whose confined setting gives the action focus and urgency. Praise clusters around the close-quarters set pieces, the fast-spreading infection and the clear staging of survival sequences through the train. The reviews also frequently credit its humanity: the father-daughter relationship and characters worth caring about give the mayhem emotional weight, while class divisions provide more to consider than who gets bitten next.
The spread is fairly wide, though firmly weighted towards approval, with social commentary the main point of disagreement. What many find sharp or effective, others consider obvious, softened for mainstream appeal or dependent on contrivance; there are also reservations about length. Slant Magazine admires the inventive frights but finds the family and capitalist messaging heavy-handed and conservative. The Playlist dissents more broadly, finding familiar genre devices, a thin plot and little of the heart that most critics praise.