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Ashfall
Movie

Ashfall

2019 • Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Woke Score
1.6
out of 10

Plot

Stagnant since 1903, at an elevation of 2,744 m, a volcano erupts on Baekdu Mountain located on the Chinese-North Korean border. Armed with the threat of imminent eruptions, a team of uniquely trained professionals from South and North Korea unite. Together, they must join forces and attempt to prevent a catastrophic disaster threatening the Korean Peninsula.

Overall Series Review

Ashfall is a South Korean disaster film centered on a catastrophic volcanic eruption on Mount Baekdu that threatens the entire Korean Peninsula. The plot focuses on a desperate, high-stakes mission led by a South Korean bomb disposal expert and an untrustworthy North Korean spy to prevent a larger, cataclysmic eruption using nuclear warheads. The narrative’s primary tension is the necessity for North and South Koreans to overcome their political differences and distrust in the face of a shared, existential threat. The film features large-scale destruction and a parallel storyline where the main protagonist's pregnant wife attempts to survive the chaos in Seoul. It functions as a classic, high-octane disaster movie that ultimately promotes themes of Korean national unity, ancestral heritage, and the importance of family.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The core of the conflict is a political and national struggle between North and South Koreans who must achieve unity for survival, not a narrative focused on immutable characteristics or an intersectional hierarchy. The main antagonists are a natural disaster and American forces who attempt to intervene and halt the operation, framing an external, non-Korean power as an obstacle to Korean sovereignty. The focus is entirely on Korean national identity, with no vilification of 'whiteness' or forced diversity, as the cast is homogeneously Korean.

Oikophobia1/10

The film strongly centers on a desire to save the Korean Peninsula, promoting themes of national unity and reunification. Mount Baekdu itself is presented as a site of immense cultural, mythical, and spiritual significance to the Korean people, symbolizing national identity. A character who previously adopted a Western name opts to go back to his Korean name, reinforcing a positive value on Korean heritage and homeland. The narrative expresses a clear reverence for the Korean nation and its survival.

Feminism3/10

A major female character, Jeon Yoo-kyung, is a competent government official and the key strategist who conceives and initiates the dangerous, high-level operation. This is a clear demonstration of female competence in a major leadership role. However, the primary, testosterone-driven action plot centers on the two male leads. The female co-star's parallel arc focuses on her struggle as a heavily pregnant woman experiencing a 'Maternity Crisis' during the disaster, culminating in the birth of her child. The emphasis on the protection of an unborn child and the celebration of the family unit leans heavily towards natalism and traditional family values.

LGBTQ+1/10

The film does not contain any storylines, characters, or dialogue related to alternative sexual ideologies or gender theory. The central family unit that the male protagonist is fighting to protect is a traditional, heterosexual nuclear family.

Anti-Theism1/10

There is no active hostility toward religion. The spiritual significance of Mount Baekdu is mentioned as part of the national heritage. The crisis and its solution are framed entirely in terms of science, political will, and military action, operating in a secular but not actively anti-theistic space. Morality is clearly defined by the transcendent goal of saving the entire Korean population and protecting one's loved ones, implying an objective moral good.