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Review | K-drama review: All of Us Are Dead – Netflix’s high-octane zombie action-drama has a troubling moral core

  • The series depicts a zombie outbreak that swiftly overwhelms a Korean high school and throws into confusion the emotions of the show’s teenage protagonists
  • Amid the blood and gore, the moral implications of its wide-ranging themes and social commentary are bewildering, if not outright alarming

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Yoon Chan-young (left) and Park Ji-hoo in a scene from All of Us Are Dead. Photo: Netflix
Pierce Conran

2/5 stars

After debuting in the South Korean market three years ago with period horror-drama Kingdom, streaming giant Netflix has circled back to zombies with its latest tentpole series All of Us Are Dead.

Based on Joo Dong-geun’s webtoon of the same name, the show depicts a zombie outbreak that swiftly overwhelms a typical Korean high school (the local title of the source and series translates as Now at Our School).

This modern zombie saga opens with a bang in the midst of an act of school bullying that unfolds on a rooftop during a rainy night. After taking a beating, the victim snaps, or rather his limbs do, as he turns into something not quite human and fights back. Moments later, he is tossed over the parapet and sails down to the alley below.

The next morning the action moves to Hyosan High School at the start of a sunny day, with slickly sutured tracking shots that glide around the school and its many characters swiftly introducing viewers to the lay of the land.

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