Over the weekend I started watching the Korean zombie series All of Us are Dead on Netflix, which premiered on Friday. I’m about halfway through the ninth hour-long episode and there are 12! This was perhaps not the best choice of show when I have seasonal depression, but I can’t stop watching it. It’s about ground zero of zombie outbreak, a high school in South Korea. Although the episodes drag a little at the beginning, they soon get you invested in the characters and the story. I mentioned All of Us are Dead a couple of weeks ago, when we got the official news that Squid Game was getting renewed. Back then AOUAD was being hailed as the next Squid Game. While I doubt it will live up to Squid Game’s astronomical numbers, it is number one on Netflix in most countries just a few days after the premiere. Unfortunately it’s not number one in the US yet, but I have a feeling this will change soon. Here’s more, from Forbes:
Netflix’s has a new #1 overall show, but if you were just looking at the US charts, you wouldn’t know it. While the thriller parody The Woman Across The Street From The Girl In The Window is top of the charts in the U.S., it’s Korean zombie show All of Us are Dead, based on a WEBTOON digital comic, that’s now #1 across most of the world.
All of Us are Dead is currently the #1 show in 53 countries, compared to The Woman Across the Street being #1 in only 11. It’s the latest example of a breakout Korean megahit for Netflix, and while it seems unlikely to reach the sky-highs of Squid Game, does already seem like one of their most successful offerings from the country to date.
I do expect that All of Us are Dead will probably end up surpassing The Woman Across the Street in a day or two here. It’s already #2, passing up Ozark, and The Woman Across the Street is a pretty short binge watch, just eight 25 minute episodes, while All of Us Are Dead is 12, hour long episodes, which means it should probably have more staying power.
Forbes journalist Paul Tassi mentions that AOUAD has been compared to Train to Busan. Train to Busan is better in a way because it was tighter, but it also didn’t make you care about as many characters. I’ll definitely finish watching this. I’m not mad I invested as much time as I have, which is rare because I hate movies over two hours. As for whether I would recommend this show, I would recommend it only if you are into zombie shows and movies. It’s very violent so you have to like that kind of gory horror. Also, given how popular this is we’ll surely get another season.
It’s not a spoiler to say that there are some specific plot points in AOUAD that are parallels to the covid pandemic. AOUAD started filming in April, 2020. It was relatively safe to film in South Korea at that time as they had some of the best mass testing and control methods in the world. Plus people in South Korea wear masks in public spaces. They did pause filming in August, 2020 as the virus spread.
Also I watch this dubbed because I’m lazy and can’t stay off my phone. Of course you can watch it in Korean with subtitles though. Here’s the trailer:
Photos credit: Yang Hae-sung/Netflix
I love that your sharing what your watching I’ll look into this. I would also recommend on HBO MAX My Brilliant Daughter, a show about 2 Italian women showing Naples and ties to the neighborhood. Another is Gomorrah also on there, a crime series depicting a modern gritty take on the same place Naples.
Train to Busan is so good. I don’t think this will be as popular as Squid Game because that was just so new and different. Lots of people already know they don’t want to watch a zombies take over a high school show, no matter how good.
One of the strengths of Korean movies/TV is that they aren’t using the same tropes that Hollywood has run into the ground. They are still in the place where their greatest successes come from riskier material. I do love how the industry their is split between really smooth, ultra polished beautiful people material and ultra raw and gritty in your face stuff.
Agreed. This kind of reminds me of of anime highschool of dead. Which is also a book/manga
I haven’t watched this Kdrama yet but I plan to soon.
I have adored K dramas for years. Their plotting, world building, writing and acting are just phenomenal.
My current favorite is the uncanny counter which is a supernatural non romantic k drama on Netflix.
I watched that too, it’s so amazing! There are so many underrated k-dramas and movies, other than horror ones.
The Uncanny Counter is brilliant. If you liked that and you haven’t already, give Hotel del Luna a go and Mystic Pop-up Bar. All three involve the supernatural and are brilliant.
I keep a list of the K dramas I watch and recommend them to my friends but no-one is interested. It frustrates me that none of them will watch these awesome movies and tv shows .
I love it so far! My daughter and I are super into it. The Korean thrillers are so amazing.
I really enjoyed Train to Busan but yet I’m finding AOUAD a bit of a slog. I’ve watched 7 episodes and it’s not bad but I don’t love it the way I was expecting to.
IMHO there are two big issues: there are too many characters (not only students, but parents, cops, politicians, policemen…and they all need their screen time) and there are too many scenes with people sitting around talking. And talking. And talking. I remember skipping through large chunks of ep 4 and not really missing anything important. Anyway, YMMV but as for me I can’t say that I love it. I’ll finish it, eventually.
That show is awesome
I love korean dramas/movies are all the rage lately but I really can’t with horror, so I’ll pass on this too.
My only caveat would be that the over-dubbing is pretty bad. Go for subtitles instead.
I have an obsession with Zombie movies and tv shows, lol, so I definitely want to see this!
I love K-dramas and Zombie movies so when I came across this show it was a no-brainer. The ending left me wanting but I would give the series an overall score of 90%.