Spoilers Ahead

South Korean pop culture has undoubtedly grown rapidly and is influencing the world. Whether it be BTS, Squid Game, or even certain Korean foods, it’s hard to meet someone who hasn’t experienced Korean culture in some way. One particular part of Korean culture that has been growing especially fast is Korean drama, or k-drama. Throughout it all, k-drama has become extremely famous for their zombie themed productions such as Train to Busan, Kingdom, and the newly released “All of Us are Dead”. “All of Us Are Dead” was released on January 28th, 2022, and although it may not be a second Squid Game, there is certainly something extremely thrilling about watching this series.

“All of Us Are Dead”  takes place in modern day South Korea where a virus that turns people into zombies spreads rapidly through the densely populated city of Hyosan, and where the streets, buildings, and most importantly the Hyosan High School, soon become infested with hordes of deadly zombies. Students and citizens alike try to survive against hordes of zombies which never seem to end, as well as themselves. One unique aspect of this series that sets this zombie movie apart from the others is how realistically the situation is handled. Unlike Train to Busan, which is another zombie k-drama, All of Us Are Dead gives a realistic and hopeful scenario due to how the government and normal citizens react to the situation, which seems to mirror today’s pandemic scenarios and protocols.

While watching this series, you will oversee multiple plotlines and groups of people that the plot follows in this series. There is the genius scientist who was unable to keep the virus he created under control, a government official and firefighter, and multiple groups of kids that are trapped in the school. The show does an amazing job of not only connecting all these plotlines, but also making comedy out of this scary scenario. 

The cast of this show portrayed their characters to perfection, and some watchers who have been a fan of Squid Game might recognize actor Lee Yoo-mi whose performance as Ji-Young was astounding. She was Kang Sae-Byok’s marble partner and was the one who sacrificed herself so that Sae-Byok could move on to the next game. In All of Us Are Dead, Lee Yoo-mi played a totally different character with an entirely different personality extremely well. Although she could have been considered one of the smaller evils in the series, she is able to invoke feelings of frustration and anger with her acting, even after her kind role in Squid Game that made her extremely liked by many.

In the end, although All of Us Are Dead probably won’t be the next Squid Game, it is still a very great series that I recommend that everyone should watch. The craftsmanship and effort put into crafting the plot of this series far exceeds that of a normal show. It is easy to see how it stayed the #1 Netflix show in January.