Saagar Kote
Netflix’s ‘Ziam’ is a Thai zombie thriller film that is set in an apocalyptic world ravaged by global warming and bacterial infections. It follows Singh, a Muay Thai fighter turned truck driver, who wages the fight of his life in a Bangkok hospital to save his girlfriend Rin, a doctor trapped inside with raging zombies. The Kulp Kaljareuk directorial, while being an action-packed drama, also profoundly explores themes of survival, love, loyalty, and the desperation of human beings when confronted by danger. As the narrative nears its crescendo, the chaos at Prachamit Hospital turns deadlier, and Singh finds himself being confronted by overwhelming odds and in a situation where he must make a difficult choice in the heat of battle against the zombies and his own soul. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Ziam Plot Synopsis
The film begins with millions of fish dying as a result of a bacterial infection originating in melting polar ice caps. Humanity is facing a massive food crisis, which has given rise to civilian riots and a global crisis of unimaginable proportions. Thailand remains isolated from the world due to a decade-long policy, because of which it seemingly has managed to maintain a stock of food and resources. In Bangkok, Singh, a Muay Thai fighter turned truck delivery driver, fights off a gang of thieves trying to steal the crates in the shipment. He tells his partner that his girlfriend Rin wants to move back to Chiang Dao in Northern Thailand.
Purich, the assistant of Mr. Vasu, the owner of VS Corporation, addresses a table surrounded by rich men, and tells them that his boss has made fish safe to eat again. However, as soon as he eats the fish, Purich starts vomiting blood in a rather gory manner. Singh comes home to his girlfriend Rin and has a conversation with her. She expresses her anxieties due to him doing a dangerous job and leaves for work at Prachamit Hospital, and on the way, meets her colleague Mink and her little son Buddy, who seems to be very attached to Rin.
As Rin reaches the hospital, she is asked by the director to accompany him to the tenth floor, where Purich lies on the operating table, violently coughing up blood. Mr. Vasu is also in the hospital, caring for his sick wife, while his assistant dies a horrific death after blood loss. In a horrifying twist, the dead Purich turns into a raging Zombie and becomes the starting point of the outbreak at the hospital. At home, Singh sees a news flash of an emergency declaration at Prachamit Hospital and leaves to ensure Rin’s safety. After a zombie is seen by the public, Singh realizes the gravity of the situation and enters the hospital building amidst chaos. Multiple people start turning into zombies inside the building, but Rin manages to hide.
Singh starts fighting the infected and also saves Buddy from a barrage of attacks. The protagonist takes it upon himself to find both Rin and Mink and also to help Buddy. Meanwhile, high-ranking military officials decide that the only solution to the crisis is to bomb the hospital before the infection spreads to the rest of Bangkok. Unfortunately for Buddy, his mother is infected, and before her turning, Singh promises her that he will take care of the kid. Rin sees that Mr. Vasu and his wife are safely locked away in a room. She goes to the room and urges the corporate boss to let her in. When Vasu confirms that she isn’t infected, he lets her in. Meanwhile, the military is ordered to blow up the hospital only after rescuing Vasu and his wife.
Vasu requests Rin for blood bags for his wife, and promises to get her out of the building for her help. A helicopter with military personnel lands on the roof to escort Vasu and his wife. The military team sets up a bomb with a countdown of thirty minutes before which they have to achieve their objective. Multiple zombies attack Rin, as Singh spots her ring chain on the floor and rushes to save her by fighting the zombies. The military enters the building and begins to rescue Vasu and his wife. Rin and Singh reunite as the zombies keep attacking. The military medic dies, and Vasu orders them to rescue Rin. A soldier shoots Singh near his shoulders as he forcibly takes Rin away, but the protagonist gets up and brutally fights the armed men.
Ziam Ending: Is Singh Dead or Alive?
Singh bravely fights the military men after he is shot by one of them. He is dragged to safety by Rin, who treats his wound near the shoulder. After he wakes up, the group faces a zombie attack again, with even the military men turning. The bomb set by the army men to blow up the hospital keeps ticking and reaches the 15-minute mark. Singh fights one of the zombie-military men and burns him. This causes the fire safety system of the hospital to turn the water sprinklers on, which leads to several neutralized zombies waking up again. As Vasu and his wife are brutally murdered by the infected, Singh keeps fighting and tells Rin and Buddy to run towards safety. The protagonist fights multiple zombies in the car park area, locking himself in a car. He manages to survive the attack, while Buddy and Rin head to the rooftop.
The soldier on the rooftop guarding the helicopter meant to rescue Vasu and his wife, inquires about the status of the mission, to which Rin says that the team and the corporate boss were eliminated. Rin requests the soldier to wait for Singh before taking off, to which the soldier reluctantly agrees. The protagonist keeps fighting as the bomb reaches the 3-minute mark in the countdown. Rin and Buddy desperately plead with the soldier to wait for takeoff, and they suddenly see Singh approaching the rooftop. However, the pilot shuts the helicopter door. In an act of profound selflessness, the Muay Thai fighter holds the door of the rooftop to prevent the zombies from entering. Rin sees this and starts crying, and as the helicopter takes off, the protagonist slowly starts walking towards his girlfriend.
The rescue vehicle takes off without Singh, and all the zombies on the rooftop converge on him. He keeps fighting and proceeds to eliminate several of his foes. As the courageous fight ensues, the bomb timer finally reaches zero, causing the bomb to explode. The hospital building blows up with Singh still on the rooftop, as Buddy and Rin tearfully hug each other, flying away. This seemingly looks like the end of the protagonist. However, in a rather shocking twist, it is revealed in the mid-credits scene of the film that Singh is still alive. When a zombie opens a manhole shaped metal container, Singh kicks the violent infected from the inside and crushes it to death with his foot. He looks to his side and shows intent to keep fighting.
Singh presumably used his skills as a Muay Thai fighter to survive the collapse of the hospital building. We can assume that he cleverly snuck into the protective container just before the building collapsed, managing not only to save himself from the fall, but also to add an almost impenetrable layer of security between him and the zombies. His commitment to Rin and his survival instincts worked together in the moment of reckoning and helped him survive the ordeal. Despite all the violence and danger around him, he heroically manages to stay alive.
Does Rin Move To Chiang Dao? What Does She See?
One of the major plot details in the film revolves around Rin wanting to move back to Chiang Dao in northern Thailand with Singh and start their life fresh, away from all the chaos in Bangkok. Singh keeps seeing visions of Rin wearing a white dress, waking up next to him, and looking at him from afar in an idyllic spot. This is his perception or image of Rin and himself living peacefully in Chiang Dao. During the violence at the hospital, in a pivotal scene when Rin is treating his wounds, he apologizes to her for always making her worry too much. Rin tells her boyfriend she doesn’t know how to live without him. Waking up after treatment, he hands her back the chain she dropped on the floor earlier and puts the ring on her finger. He promises his loved one that after they make it out of the hospital, they will move back to Chiang Dao and live their life in peace.
The two lovers embrace in a heartwarming moment. After making it out of the hospital alive by flying away in the helicopter, Rin assumes that Singh is dead. In a crucial scene at the end, we see Rin in what looks like a peaceful spot in Chiang Dao, wearing the white dress from Singh’s visions and clutching at the ring on her finger. This shows that she’s desperately hoping to see her lover again. She has moved to Chiang Dao to earn some peace in her life. The grieving lover looks at the horizon and has presumably achieved some level of calm in her life. Buddy is seen in the background, which indicates that Rin didn’t abandon the little boy after the events at the rooftop and still cares for him deeply.
In an exciting twist, as she looks back to seemingly spot Buddy approaching, her expressions change very slightly. This possibly indicates that Singh has made it to Chiang Dao after fighting off the zombies. Though it is not a clear conclusion, we can definitely assume that Rin’s changed expression from plain to surprise indicates the protagonist reuniting with his lover. The narrative constantly hints through Singh’s vision of Rin in the white dress to the fact that he is meant to live a life with his childhood sweetheart. In an earlier scene in the film, we see Singh looking at an old photograph of him and Rin as kids and writes “Our Dream Has Finally Come True” on it, indicating that his destiny will not let him die, and that he is meant to be with Rin. This is possibly why Rin most likely sees her loved one returning to her.
Will the Zombie Outbreak Be Contained?
An important theme throughout the narrative is the zombie outbreak. It seems that neither doctors nor the military have any answer to the rapidly spreading infection. However, there is some hope that the outbreak could be contained. A major clue is when Buddy tells Singh during a fight that he should target the heads of the infected, because the brain controls everything. So it is proven that even the zombies have certain weaknesses that can be exploited. The government is shown to be dedicated to the idea of restoring the glory of Siam, so it can be assumed that the officials will do everything in their power to find a solution or cure.
Singh manages to fight several zombies single-handedly, which indicates that others can contain the infection by fighting too and not getting turned. In the ending scene, we see that Chiang Dao looks very normal and without any signs of an apocalyptic zombie presence, which means that there might have been some efforts from the government and the people of Thailand not to let the infection spread beyond Bangkok, which is why rural areas like Chiang Dao are peaceful. Though it is not easy to conclude that the outbreak has been contained, the clues in the narrative point towards a peaceful end to the chaos. A less cheerful possibility is that the outbreak devastated significant parts of Bangkok.
It is evident that the zombies have reached the streets and will possibly find ways to run amok and infect thousands of people, which would then turn into millions. The capital city would bear the heaviest burden of the outbreak, but whether or not it manages to keep it limited to its territory is not an easy question to answer. The example of COVID-19 can explain the scenario better. The epidemic became a pandemic because it couldn’t be contained to certain geographical regions, despite the best efforts of governments worldwide. A zombie outbreak is far more dangerous than COVID, so there’s a real possibility that it could’ve spread beyond Bangkok. However, as seen in films like ‘World War Z,’ it is not a fantasy to assume that the government and the armed forces will find ways to fight back.
Read More: Why is it Called Ziam?
