Review: All of Us Are Dead (Netflix)

Meanwhile, Korea’s TV zombie plague is still entertainingly ongoing. What makes the most recent entry into the genre a bit different is how very conventional it is. While we’ve had some very novel variations on the theme (the historical drama of Kingdom, the weird monsters of Sweet Home), All of Us Are Dead follows a clearer story of survival in the midst of a sudden outbreak of ravenous zombies.

The added feature is that most of the drama is set in a high school and the rag-tag band of survivors are teenage students. The age of the protagonists makes the various bad decisions, mistakes and in-fighting necessary for the genre a lot more understandable and forgivable.

The themes of severe bullying, sexual assault and suicide in the first episode (in particular) are worth noting. There are confronting elements here that partly get lost in later episodes as the story expands towards the broader impact of a zombie apocalypse. Also, beware of large amounts of blood and people being eaten (obviously).

Hyosan High School has a severe bullying problem that is largely ignored by the school principal. When the son of a science teacher (and former research biochemist) is subject to prolonged harassment by a vicious gang of bullies, he devises a way to make his son stand up for himself. In the process, he creates a rapidly evolving virus intended to heighten a person’s aggressiveness. The virus, of course, is the start of a zombie plague.

After a mouse the teacher was using for experiments, bites a student, the school becomes ground zero for a zombie outbreak that eventually takes over the whole city. As the series progresses, the wider impact and adult intervention in the crisis become additional plot strands. However, the bulk of the episode follows a main group of survivors, battling their way from one temporary hiding place to another.

At 12 episodes, it is probably 4 episodes too long. The storylines focused on the adults (including the political and military response) are weaker, although they help set the context for later events that impact the school. The student-focused plot becomes bogged down with the students escaping from one bad situation to another. However, the addition of a genuinely evil antagonist adds a further dramatic element.

Aside from that, there is pretty much everything you might expect from a zombie narrative. Bravery, cowardice, interpersonal dynamics in the face of existential threat and cobbled-together survival strategies.