All of Us Are Dead (2022)

June 18, 2023

Our Take: A zombie drama packed with action and carnage told in the lens of high schoolers.

The Premise

All of Us Are Dead opens by explaining how the virus began. A group of bullies mercilessly torment one of their classmates, Jin Su, which awakens raw, animalistic instincts in him. As the bullies continue to push him around, they accidentally throw him off the roof of the building, causing him to suffer severe injuries that quickly escalate to something more.

In the aftermath of the violence, the domino effect of the incident is slowly brought to light. The high school where Jin Su's father, Lee Byung Chan (Kim Byung Chul), teaches becomes ground zero for a zombie outbreak. As Hyosan High School gets overrun with zombies, the trapped students must work together to find a way to survive and fight their way out. 

Caught in the hysteria and fear include remaining survivors, classmates, and friends, Nam On Jo (Park Ji Hoo), Lee Chung San (Yoon Chung San), Lee Doo Hyuk (Lomon), Choi Nam Ra (Jo Yi Hyun), among others. With no water or food, and limited communication with the outside world, they must fend for themselves using anything they can salvage in the school. 

The Survivors

What makes All of Us Are Dead unique is that the central protagonists are teenagers who must survive the zombie apocalypse without support from their adult counterparts. As you watch them move from their classrooms to the roof to the mountains in search of sanctuary, you can acutely feel their struggles and the pain of being abandoned by the world. Through these lenses, the show has some of its lighter moments while tackling the emotional weight of grief and chaos engulfing the school. 

One moment, you see friends dishing out advice on how to deal with their crushes or discussing how they should use the bathroom. The next, you see people tragically lose their humanity and turn into the undead, often right in front of their classmates. The scenes of humans realizing they are turning are especially heartbreaking as the infected grapple with the irreversible reality of their circumstances while their peers watch in horror as those around them turn one by one.

The Boundary Between Life and Death

The show adds a unique dimension to the zombie apocalypse by focusing on the difficult choices the students must make in the face of life and death while weaving other thought-provoking themes into the storytelling. As the vicious virus quickly sweeps through the city, the horrors of everyday school life also get exposed, including rampant bullying, the abuse of social media, social hierarchies, peer pressure, teen pregnancy, sexual assault, and a harsh education system. 

It's no secret that there is enormous pressure among South Korean youths to perform well in school to get into a prestigious college, namely the SKY trio of Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. However, juxtaposed with the virus, the frequent abuse on school grounds becomes even more menacing. 

Some students lash out at their peers to reduce stress, which in turn causes the victims even more stress. Others resort to drugs, social withdrawal, or even suicide. And yet, despite the psychological damage this type of cutthroat environment causes people, many youngsters are alone in their struggles, both in the show and in real life.

A Cliffhanger Ending

Elements of the ending are reminiscent of the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster, where 250 students drowned after the ferry capsized on a school trip. Because the government failed to handle the situation quickly and effectively, many students ended up dying as a result. On top of the incompetence displayed by the government and military, after escaping from their zombie-infested school, the survivors get interrogated by the very officials who abandoned them and left them to die. By the end, it's clear that the students put their faith in the wrong people, causing irreversible damage to them.

Other parts of the story are left unfinished, especially surrounding the presence of hambies or people who are infected but still have their humanity. But these unanswered questions will likely get explored in Season 2. 

Final Thoughts

All of Us Are Dead is a bloodthirsty, adrenaline-packed zombie drama that touches on some of the darker systemic issues South Korean society is facing. There are plenty of jump scares, intense action scenes, and carnage that work to amplify these underlying social themes as the virus spreads. 

Compared to other high-profile zombie movies and shows like Train to Busan, Kingdom, Sweet Home, or Happiness, All of Us Are Dead falls a bit short in its emotional core and character development. Because of the range of themes the drama covers, some loose ends do not get fully explored to the level of depth that would have made the show stand out. However, the show is a binge-worthy watch with plenty of impressive action elements that will keep you entertained and on your toes until the very end.