All of Us Are Dead

In spite of all the horror and struggle for survival, there is still room for the heart note

"All of Us Are Dead" isn't specific to South Korean culture, but it's not surprising that the story was born on South Korean soil... The story picks up on the sheer horror that South Korean youth are exposed to in the face of their brutal educational system. There, the enormous pressure to perform is higher than almost anywhere else in the world. For some, bullying is one way to reduce stress. The bullied, in turn, are doubly stressed. Other options include withdrawal, drugs, or suicide. South Korean society is largely blind and/or helpless in the face of this. The pressure to perform and, in this context, the psychological suffering of young people seems to be without alternative in view of the nationwide (and worldwide, economic) competition - a price that society has to pay in view of the greater good. And with that, the youngsters are left alone to somehow survive in this merciless world. However, this applies (perhaps not so blatantly) in a similar way to young people in many countries around the world.

This is where "All of Us Are Dead" comes in its impressive and striking way.

The original title is something like "Currently at our school", so the focus is actually on the school and their students. In fact, the horror of everyday school life, which is more existential for some and less existential for others, mutates into a horror for everyone. A troubled father wants to create a way for his suicidal son to finally stand up to his bullies. The experiment goes astray. The vicious, zombie-like virus is sweeping the entire city and beyond. Disaster control, state of emergency, martial law - the whole program is needed to get the situation under control. And here, again, the young people are left alone in their existential need.

The story telling and expression of various group and relationship dynamics between the young people represent high-end KDrama quality - intense, powerful, sensitive, excellent. Almost everything is on the table. For me, this is the strength of this KDrama and the reason why worth watching.

Besides the problems, dynamics and approaches of trying to 'master' the threatening epidemic somehow sums up what we have had to go through worldwide in the past 2 years marked by Covid. When the rules are overridden, individuals (those who happen to have something to say) rule against the backdrop of their (helpless) personalities - arbitrary or scientifically based, rational or irrational, mostly driven by fear and from a safe distance and/or on the (argumentatively) safe side. Then real quick nobody takes side of individuals anymore, the big picture being more important...

Seen in this way, "All of Us Are Dead" is a qualitatively demanding KDrama in several respects. In spite of all the horror and struggle for survival, there is still room for the heart note.

However, I would like to emphasize that the virus is turning people into flesh-eating zombies. So the abundance of screaming, rattling, biting, blood-smeared zombie scenes, which simply lack any aesthetics for the eye and ear, is part of the story, too. In general this drama is brutal. This is obviously very popular in the international zeitgeist and thus (being published on the international netflix platform) stagily staged. I would say, brutal details and zombie-screentime could definitely have been less prevailing (in order to still tell the story).

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Dying is easy, surviving is hard

All of Us Are Dead is adapted from the serialized Naver digital webtoon entitled Now at Our School, which was written by Joo Dong Geun and published from 2009 to 2011. I haven’t read the webtoon but it reportedly consists of only nine chapters. Therefore it would probably stand to reason that the live-action adaptation has expanded on its lore, especially when Netflix is involved where the potential exists for a series to be renewed for a second season, depending on the success of the first season.

The drama is co-directed by Lee Jae Gyoo, who won a Baeksang for Damo and directing honours for Beethoven Virus, and Kim Nam Soo. It is based on the screenplay adaptation written by Cheon Seong Il, the screenwriter for Chuno and The Pirates. Principal photography took place from June 2020 to February 2021, which was prolonged due to the Covid-19 outbreak during filming.

In a nutshell, the story revolves around a group of highschool students who are trapped at their school, the ground zero for the onset of a zombie virus outbreak. The drama depicts them fighting to survive both the zombies and virus infection while waiting to be rescued. The rating classification for this production is R-18 and aside from the expected zombie action and gore, certain trigger warnings are present in the form of bullying violence that even borders on sexual assault.

In a recent interview with director Lee Jae Gyoo via the online presentation of the production in South Korea on 26th January, he had intimated that this drama would be uniquely distinct within the K-drama zombie genre that has become commonplace in recent years. According to him, All of Us Are Dead features thought-provoking themes that add a different meaning to a zombie apocalypse, where the focus is on the choices young students make at the boundary between life and death. In addition, the story also provides a satirical take on South Korea's educational system and school space.

What I Liked

I love the K-drama zombie genre and anything closely or even remotely associated in the form of mutants, monsters and the like, complete with the horror, action, adventure tags whether in contemporary, sageuk or fantasy settings. As much as I’ve enjoyed the recently aired Happiness, my preference for zombies leans towards the more feral variety with hordes of them rampaging through the populace annihilating anything and everything in their path, in the mould of Train to Busan (which gets a shoutout in this drama), Kingdom and Rampant. Call me sadistic but I’m all for epic levels of productions with economies of scale in delivering the exhilaration of the action, thrills and suspense, along with all the emotive aspects of human drama as well. Based on what I’ve seen of the depiction of zombies in this drama, it manages to convey all of the above, and has successfully fulfilled most, if not all, of my expectations.

A co-production between JTBC Studios’ Film Monster and Kim Jong Hak Production for Netflix, the quality of the technical execution is beyond doubt. No effort or budget was spared as even a huge four-storey set was constructed as the setting of the fictional Hyosan High School. The money was very well spent indeed as the production design looks top notch with all the nitty gritty details providing an intriguing backdrop to the zombie outbreak. The zombies themselves are deftly manifested in terms of the makeup, special and sound effects, as well as the blood, gore and contortions which complement the extensive range of expertly choreographed sequences.

The cinematography is deserving of praise with the crucial aspect for productions of this nature being the calibre of the camerawork, which for the most part does not let me down (or induce nausea). The well rendered scene transitions are testament to the standard of editing as well, where it’s worth mentioning that the chaotic scenes at the cafeteria and library involving 200 or so extras are reportedly the result of a single-take shooting.

As far as the narrative is concerned, the premise of a school-based zombie outbreak is refreshingly new to me. Some viewers may associate elements of Dark Hole to be of similar vein but personally it really isn’t despite the comparable vibes. While I wouldn’t consider the overall plot trajectory as particularly inventive or groundbreaking, what distinguishes this drama from most others that I’ve seen is the storytelling approach.

In addition to the multiple POV perspectives of the main characters, the screenplay takes its time to explore the origins of the zombie outbreak and motivations behind the actions resulting in the said virus being unleashed on humanity. The depiction of characters dealing with the tragic circumstances in the aftermath certainly elicits an emotional response as well.

True to the director's word, this drama tackles both existing and hypothetical societal concerns which provide added dimensions to the storytelling. Among the thought provoking themes incorporated into the storytelling - unchecked and unmitigated school violence, the ingrained hierarchical social order within a society segmented by wealth and power, the deeply polarised mindsets of the local government and communities in the event of an apocalypse or the aftermath of a mass casualty event. The role that technology plays in binding all these themes together is tackled as well in the form of the ever increasing reliance on and abuse of social media as an outlet that fuels the dissemination of actual and fake news.

The infusion of a number of side stories, character arcs and a narrative that steadily evolves as the drama progresses helped to allay my initial concerns of the story sustaining its momentum over 12 episodes. The dynamic between characters giving rise to various forms of conflicts, teen angst, and even hints of romance contribute towards preserving an atmosphere filled with tension and suspense. That said, I do think the drama could have been slightly shortened without adversely impacting the storytelling.

The main cast is made up of young actors, some of whom were prolific child actors and even critically acclaimed talent as well. Park Ji Hoo, Yoon Chan Young, Jo Yi Hyun, Park Solomon and Yoo In Soo portray the highschool students who are caught up in the ensuing chaos. Featuring roles of varying capacities, these youngsters provide a decent account of themselves through characterizations that are adequately written, for the most part. Lee Yoo Mi is particularly impressive here following her brief appearance in Squid Game, given her experience of being the oldest actress portraying a student and for her captivating portrayal of the antagonistic Lee Na Yeon that actually steals the scenes from the protagonists at times. Meanwhile, I would consider Park Solomon’s affable Lee Soo Hyuk, Jo Yi Hyun’s stoic Choi Nam Ra and Ha Seung Ri’s heroic archer Jang Ha Ri as my favourite characters amongst the students.

The supporting cast come across as being more familiar, where we get to observe Kim Byung Chul (Sisyphus, Doctor Prisoner), Lee Kyu Hyung (Happiness, Voice 4), Lee Yo Mi (Squid Game), Uhm Hyo Sub (King of Tears, War of the Son) , Bae Hae Seon (Happiness, Inspector Koo, HomeCha), Jeon Bae Soo (Stranger, Lawless Lawyer), Kim Jong Tae (The Veil, Sisyphus), and Yoon Byung Hee (Hot Stove League). The more nuanced acting in the drama is provided by these mostly experienced veterans, especially Kim Byung Chul as science teacher Lee Byeong Chan. Utterly intense, sinister, and convincing, unsurprisingly the best performance in the entire drama comes from this award-winning actor. Jeon Bae Soo gets to play the hero this time in a memorable performance as firefighter Nam So Ju.

What I Didn’t Appreciate

When it comes to K-dramas and school students, bullying and violence are par for the course - they’re never far away and will probably remain as a staple trope. It’s infuriating and disturbing to watch at times and seems to be escalating in brutality these days. The scale of the savagery seems to be higher than the actual zombie action itself but it’s something that all viewers of K-content will need to accept and get used to, unfortunately.

The main villain of the story is featured through the gangster wannabe and low-life bully Yoon Gwi Nam, played almost too well by Yoo In Soo. This despicable human thrash has the typical clichéd story arc that stretches far too long, in my opinion, before eventually fizzling out as a mere afterthought.

As mentioned earlier, I think the storytelling would have been better presented if it were slightly shorter, perhaps with 8 or so episodes.Despite the multiple POVs, too much time is allocated to the teen drama at school than is perhaps necessary. I would have liked to have seen Kim Byung Chul’s character more fleshed out in real time rather than merely as a series of flashbacks. The same goes for Jeon Bae Soo’s firefighter who is desperately trying to get to his daughter.

There are numerous annoying characters in this drama, some of whom supposedly supplying the usual ill-fitting comic relief that appears very much jarring to the senses.The tough girl wannabe and her whingeing companion, the cowardly police sergeant, and the bickering couples, to name a few. I think generally the boys are better written than the girls who come across as petty and physically abusive towards their male counterparts, as far as the youngsters are concerned.

Final Thoughts

All things considered and despite its flaws as well as the overly dramatic ending that has the potential for expansion either as a sequel or a side story, I had a great time mainly because of my love for horror and zombies. We honestly do need more zombie stories because there is too much romance, rom-coms and melodrama in dramaland already and simply not enough of the macabre flesh-eating, blood-sucking undead. All of Us Are Dead is not the best in the genre, where Kingdom still reigns supreme, but as a one-time weekend watch it definitely fulfils my insatiable hunger for such content, albeit temporarily.

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You need to be a zombie to enjoy this

Whew! Watching this is like doing an unwanted chore. Such a waste of opportunity!

After saving it in my to-watch list the first day I saw the trailer on Netflix, I cleared my Friday night schedule to binge all the episodes, prepared my popcorn, (and beer) popped the first episode and I'm hooked! The first episode was compelling and was such a gorefest, I thought it is exactly how I want my horror show. The very first attack by the school nurse was heartstopping and showed a lot of promise. Sadly, after the 3rd episode, I am snoozing like a baby, drools and all.

My expectations are low when it comes to horror. I come to be entertained and have a good time, and the more gruesome and the more bloody the better. Having said that, I have set my bar even lower for this series because I know it's teen-centric and I just want to enjoy and not nitpick details. This show, however, exceeded in delivering mind-numbing foolishness, and it's so easy to hate almost all characters that you can't stop wishing all of them would just be bitten.

The story is simple enough but could have been a goldmine of ideas and exciting scenarios. Instead, they dropped stupid and repetitive scenarios one after another. The character's eyes keep popping like a light bulb every time they think (or they think they thought of) of brilliant ideas to outsmart the zombies. You just can't help but cheer the zombies to finally have a go at it and just kill the characters:
1. One of the most frustrating is the way they handled Ohn Jo's father, they were building the story for him to be the big rescuer, and that he will do everything to save his daughter only to die minutes after reuniting with her. We were shouting at the screen when that happened cause they all clearly have a path to get away from the zombies, especially right after when he threw the first flare because it seems they can all go safely, Then, he unnecessarily threw the second and third flares. Very anti-climatic for his arc just to create the drama.
2. Seems like they were intent on just unnecessarily killing all the adults alive in the school to keep the narrative that the teens are on their own.
3. The vlogger was just a nuisance. I don't understand his importance to the story cause he did nothing at all.
4. Do I need to mention Chiong San's mom? What about his dad who mysteriously disappeared?
5, The police force. My goodness! I love Lee Kyu Hyung and even if his character here was almost the same as in Happiness, he is still also one of the few bright spots of the series. However, the whole Hyosan police force was just a dimwit bunch. Did you see how easy it was for the zombies to overrun the friggin police headquarters? The guys at the school put up a much better fight than these weakling cops. They got the main culprit -the brain behind the virus and they know the virus is spreading and you interrogate him like it's a normal crime? Has no one there thought of coordinating with the other agencies, and telling them that they have the crazy scientist, turn him over and make him do the antidote or something. No, they all panicked when the zombies attacked the police station, no one even thought of maybe finding some weapons because just maybe there are some because THEY ARE IN THE FRIGGIN POLICE STATION!
6. What about the assemblywoman? What's her actual contribution to the whole story?
7. Did you see how the teen mom tied her hands with that ribbon, to keep her from eating the baby? She's a zombie, not a gift box, that ribbon looks so thin that when she became a zombie she could have snapped it easily. Oh but that ribbon is made of steel and it held her overnight. And that baby? It must have superhuman powers to survive that long without milk.
8. The bullied girl in the rooftop. I was thinking they'd give her a recovery arc, but no, she is just as self-centered as her bullies. She was so happy to announce that she SET THE SCHOOL ON FIRE, but girl has to check that statement cause all she did was burn the papers in the office, nothing more. Hasn't she seen the fire sprinklers working? A fight between her and GwiNam could have been epic.
9. And OMG that bullied guy. I kinda understand why he did what he did on the rooftop, but then he was at the camp, met this girl, and he tells him I want to eat you, and then he just let her. That scenario alone could have opened a lot of possible chaotic scenarios inside the camp. I was kinda expecting the zombies to spread there, but no, nothing of that sort. It's like the guy's existence is just to make the abandonment of the kids in the rooftop climatic, which by the way is not.
10. I would like to mention the countless stupid ways to escape a zombie apocalypse but this is already way too long.

They even spent almost an episode literally talking about shit. They complained about thirst and hunger but didn't bother to find food and water and yet they spent quite some time teaching us how to do the number 2 during an apocalypse.

What makes it sadder, is that I find not a single character to latch on to - not the drama queen, not her puppy best friend, not the pretend goody goody jock, not even the smartass who could have been their gifted savior. What they delivered instead was a puke-invoking bunch of whiny pimpled teenage characters who can't stop talking about their silly crushes and quite a few useless adult characters who make selfish and terrible decisions.

There are only two characters I didn't hate- Gwi Nam is a scary psycho and the funny delinquent Mi-Jin. Had they shifted the focus to these two, they could have created a witty frightening gore. I just have to add that my favorite part was when they were on the rooftop and singing cause that felt sincere.

I can't help but wonder why this show got a 12-episode order as opposed to Kingdom which has 6 per season and Sweet Home which has 10. The show could have used a lot of editing and maybe it will feel better if it was just 8 or even 10.

I recommend having a go at it using your mobile device, that way you can change the playback speed, otherwise, if you're watching on your smart tv just have the remote ready and just feel free to skip the boring parts. I promise you, you won't miss anything. Hard to rewatch, unfortunately.

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A struggle to watch

All of Us Are Dead is South Korea's latest entry into their increasing array of zombie productions. The hype surrounding this drama since its teasers and trailers was real, further proven by the amount of enthusiasm shown by worldwide viewers as the drama was finally released on Netflix. I, myself, was among those who were excited for this drama's release, but after watching the entirety of its episodes, I found it disappointing to say the least.

The main problem I had with this drama is its writing. It has major issues— full of plotholes, repetitiveness, inconsistencies and wasted potential. I was most disappointed with how they didn't utilize Nam Ra's abilities as a half-zombie well enough. Instead of letting the group face the same pattern of finding a safe place to hide, having them argue with one another and moving to another safe place over and over again which eventually got really tiring to watch, they could've made room for a more dynamic plot by having Nam Ra use her abilities to help them escape the school earlier. This would've allowed some extra time that can be used to further develop the characterizations which fell shallow for some of the characters. Until the end, I wasn't able to sympathize with a lot of these characters despite having went though 12 whole episodes full of tragedy and loss alongside them. I had a big problem rooting for the female lead in particular due to her general blandness. Her character wasn't interesting nor engaging enough even compared to several of the supporting characters, such as Jang Ha Ri and Park Mi Jin.

There was also a lot of pointless plotlines throughout the drama. To name a few, Gwi Nam's revenge against Cheong San (did he seriously think the police were still going to sit behind their desks processing reports when the entire city has gone to hell ?), the assemblywoman who served absolutely no purpose whatsoever, the hunt for Lee Byeong Chan's laptop because he claimed it contained the key to finding a cure when it turned out to only be a recording of him saying there was no cure, and even On Jo's father's dramatic yet HIGHLY PREVENTABLE death.

The drama also tries to address real life issues such as bullying, sexual harassment, academic and social pressure in attempt to create a woke statement of some sort but it doesn’t add to much. It’s just there to be there. I think having Eun Ji epically stand off against the bully, both as half zombies, would have helped in this aspect, as little as it might.

It wasn't all that bad, though. I enjoyed the action sequences. It's obvious they spent a lot of effort and budget into creating those scenes. The props, makeup, and choreography for the zombies were amazing. Though having some noticeable mistakes and inconsistencies, the action was gripping and suspenseful enough to push you to continue watching. Characters such as Nam Ra, Su Hyeok, Cheong San, Ha Ri, Mi Jin, detective Jae Ik, his partner, and even Na Yeon at times helped made this drama more lively.

The acting range of this drama was mixed. As expected, it was a total delight watching Lee Kyu Hyung's onscreen performance. Several of the younger actors did a great job as well, namely Jo Yi Hyun (Nam Ra), Yoon Chan Young (Cheong San) Yoo In Soo (Gwi Nam) and Lee Yoo Mi (Na Yeon). The rest were either okay or lacking.

The finale sort of picked up the drama a bit. It's because they finally utilized Nam Ra's character properly, having her fight in the frontlines instead of standing around in the back.

All in all, All of Us Are Dead is quite mediocre. It was a fun watch to kill time, but nothing more.

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Is it more than your regular Zombie drama?

Zombie dramas have its own fan-base. You either like such gore dramas or hate them. Of-course it is the story that matters at the end of the drama. I feel that the suddenness of a zombie popping out of places you least expect from and the survivors instinct of the dramas cast makes it thrilling for the viewers.
Coming back to the 'All of us are dead' drama. I was waiting for this drama for a long time and I binged watched the entire drama as soon as it came in my country. Even though the drama had its fair share of plot holes and a not so likeable Main FL the drama was a one hell of a thrilling ride. And what I loved is its long list of good actors in it. At points the decision made by the student may seem immature but we have to keep in mind that they were only high school students. It is thrilling to watch them trying to stay alive between a horde of zombies. The drama started as your regular high school bullying drama but it quickly changed gears. The story was pretty fast moving too and it never felt dull at a long interval. I feel that the first half of the drama was far better than the second half pf the drama.
Between all blood and death also there were some nice characters to watch. Namely Lee Cheong San, Song Jae Ik [Detective], Jang Ha Ri and a few more characters. I personally didn't liked the FL. Even though she was a good actor.
At the end I would like to say is that it is quite a nice watch for the Zombie lovers out there. I am giving it an 9 rather than a 10 is because I think something that makes the drama wow is missing from this drama and I personally didn't liked the end that much. Hopefully we get answers about it in the future.

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I can't explain but this series has my whole heart

Ahhh.. this is so fascinating especially the fact that they have actual choreographers for the zombie movements! i thought that was very unique!! i hope all their hardwork pays off, because i can already tell this is going to be truly phenomenal! And i just love their chemistry 😭 I love how they put and prioritize every details here! May your hardwork pays off. Fighting! This drama tells us so many things in so many ways like how it feels when it comes to you, your family, your friends..... How selfish people can be when you needed them. this series showed the reality of world... I just loved everything but i just feels like crying because of the ending i wanted see them together.....hell i want another season... 🥲

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ZZZZZombies

I've been waiting for this drama to air for an obscenely long time, I cleared my schedule today to fully binge this and I’ve got to say, I’m disappointed. There's a lot to be said and I’m sure some people enjoy it, but there's just very little to redeem the story and its ridiculous rabbit holes.

STORY
There's really nothing special about this story despite the fact the very idea of a zombie outbreak at a school gives a lot to work with. The writers stuff so many different plot points and social issues into the script and they're never fully elaborated on. But the worst thing is the fact the writers don't have something to say. Instead of the perceived problem of the message becoming too preachy, in a way common to the genre, there just seems to be no message at all. They touch on bullying, teen pregnancy, harassment, etc but there's nothing to be gained from it, you leave the viewing experience underwhelmed and slightly annoyed (especially because of the ending). There could've been many explorations in this story, a dive into pure human nature, an interesting perspective on strength, a deep look at grief. Instead, there are plot twists that make no sense, random characters and stories that have zero effect on the story, death without meaning, and repetitive plot points that leave you bored and exhausted. Some characters are interesting while others are one-note, with most characters having disappointing wrap-ups to their arcs/lives. Every aspect of the story is a complete letdown. It feels like the story writers missed an English class in 5th grade and forgot that every story needs to have a theme, subject, and message... My frustration really cannot be expressed properly, it is genuinely a shame.

ACTING
I'm going to link this acting and these characters together because in all honesty most of these characters are completely flat, we follow them for over 10 hours yet somehow know nothing about them or their motivations. But the cast! These kids are all wonderful, some of the side characters are uninteresting but even then their bonds with the mains and each other seem real and interesting, The main cast, especially Yoon Chanyoung, Yoo Insoo, and Jo Yihyun, are truly amazing, often showing up their older counterparts with the depth they managed to bring their characters. The true strength of this show is based entirely on how the actors managed to bounce off each other and deliver spectacularly when the camera decided to point at them. The show would be much worse off without this cast.

MUSIC/OTHER
I'm not an ost person so music has never had much of a deciding factor, the instrumentals were good if forgettable. I'd actually like to talk about the choreography of the fight scenes and visual effects. They were INCREDIBLE!! There were fight scenes in every episode and every one made use of beautiful staging techniques and were a delight to watch. The zombies ere really terrifying to see and the ever present threat was only heightened by the lovely special effects. The dance choreographers and VFX designers really delivered.

REWATCH VALUE
Like I said, there's really nothing of merit in the story and I feel like rewatching would make that even more pronounced.

OVERALL
To be honest I really wanted to love this drama. with everything in me I really did, but the plot and its meanderings are just really hard to bear... I really hope it does well though because this cast has some really special talent and id hate to see it go to waste.

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Excited to start your week with a fun and thrilling high school zombie flick? Then this isn't it.

I was very excited about this one. In the pictures, it looked so good. The trailer was well-made and was hype material. And it's gotten quite popular as well. I couldn't wait to binge this since I have seen Kingdom, Train to Busan, Sweet Home (Not exactly zombies but monsters/survival type) and thought maybe they're good with these themes. But I was mistaken.

The problem with All of Us Are Dead is how stereotypical it is. The main character is the childhood friend of the female main character and they also have two other friends with them. There is the "Hot Oppa" type of character who is very righteous and very strong. There is the quiet class president who's the topper of the class and is very smart but no one likes her because they all assume that she doesn't like them as well. There is also this annoying girl who's literally annoying for no reason at all. I can go on and on. These characters feel like I've seen them before in so many different media. And a major problem is how they act so stiff. It doesn't feel like they are real characters making real decisions. It's almost like the series itself wants these characters to stay between a set of tropes and never do something different.

There is this one character (who I will not specify for spoiler reasons) who stays true to their stereotype in almost all of the episodes. And almost an entire episode was dedicated to their character, we get to see how they are finally starting to change as a character, and right after that moment, the character dies. My question is, why? What was the point of wasting that much time over that character if they were gonna die with zero development? Unfortunately, this series pulls this so many times that it majorly affected my viewing experience.

If that wasn't enough, the plot is just so predictable. When you can literally tell what event is gonna take place in the next few minutes, the series is not doing a good job in the storytelling department. There were some moments I could automatically tell who's gonna die next. And no, this isn't something that's common for horror-thriller or zombie-survival types of movies, because to my memory, good series like Kingdom or movies like Train to Busan was never like that. You couldn't automatically tell what's gonna happen next because the story is being told in a perfect way and the events felt sudden like it was supposed to.

Characters often make decisions that are so stupid that I actually don't know if they are even a human. For example, one of the characters died while trying to push a zombie away with their fist. You are in a zombie apocalypse and instead of protecting the place where you could be bitten easily, you choose to push a zombie away with your hand right next to their mouth when you literally have other objects you can use to push them away. That isn't the only instance of dumb decisions. The choices these characters make in the entirety of this series are so bad. Sometimes, I couldn't help but wish all of them had just gotten bitten already.
I was more entertained watching the detective's perspective and that one Seoul University guy (Not Sang-Woo) and that one stupid vlogged. Then it would turn into a zombie comedy but at least it would be entertaining compared to whatever this is.

The series spends more time explaining how to make an emergency toilet than explaining how the zombie mechanics work and why some people turn into half-zombies and some people don't.

They also had to include so many characters, some of them end up having zero developments and are left uninteresting. Later on, the series just kills them off in true Korean drama fashion.

Sound and production are not impressive enough to write home about. The cast is overwhelmingly big and some characters are terribly written. The main female character, On-Jo's acting was so stiff sometimes. She has only one expression throughout the entire series.

If you think you should still watch this and see for yourself, go ahead. Just a warning, it's 12 episodes long and each episode's duration is almost an hour. So when you round it up, it's a 12 hour-long series.

If you think that this series isn't worth your time, and if you are okay with some spoilers explaining how ridiculous some moments were in the whole series that just ruin your experience, refer to this comment of mine:
https://kisskh.at/59449-our-school-now#comment-8593081

Well, that's the gist of it. You are still free to be adventurous and watch this series, as we all perceive media in a different way depending on the person, you might enjoy it. But I won't recommend this to anyone. Not only is it very long, it just wastes time with useless moments that don't contribute to the story later on.

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Entertaining enough, but no real likeable characters

Likes: As a fan of the zombie genre, I thought the production was pretty good. The action scenes were tense and nicely done. It was entertaining enough that I don't regret watching this.

Dislikes:
- There were no real likeable characters. No one stood out. And because the characters weren't fleshed out enough, I didn't feel a connection with any of them so I wasn't really rooting for anyone that strongly. Nobody really left an impression.
- I especially didn't like the character of Ohn Jo. She was so dull (as with most of the female characters for most of the drama) Having one of the main characters be so dull was a wrong move.
-Lack of clear leads. I wasn't sure half the time who were supposed to be the main leads. Is it Cheong San/Ohn Jo? Or is it Nam ra/Soo Hyuk? I think if the drama had focused on the Nam ra/ Soo Hyuk arc , fleshed that out a bit more and also the hybrid changes that Nam ra was going through, the drama would have been more interesting.
-Lack of depth in the story arcs. Like what was the purpose of the detective, his partner, the baby, and little girl? They added no value to the story. And the whole arc of Ohn Jo and her father was kind of a let down. And the purpose of introducing the arrow shooting nuna so late in the game?
-Draggy moments. Not gonna lie. I did FF a little in the draggy parts.

Overall disappointing? Yes, but I was still entertained enough mainly due to my love for the zombie chase. Would I watch this again? No. Would I watch another season? Yes, esp if they concentrated on the zombie hybrids and have cool action scenes.

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Frustrating Female Lead and Unlimited Plot holes

All of us are dead can be said as a high budget series with beautiful shots and gory details and props, but for me that was the only good thing about the series. Well, I can also add that most of the actors are really good too especially the veterans than we mostly recognized immediately in episode 1. It is enjoyable to watch in the sense that we can see that the production team did spend a lot of money for this series, the camera angles, the blood and the realistic entrails was fascinating to watch but that was all for me. The actors acting was wasted by the story line, all of the lead actors did tried their best to deliver their characters well and this is the problem, the female lead become frustratingly useless and stupid and all throughout the series I was exclaiming to my sister that she needs to get her priorities straight. I mean how stupid can you get if she keeps on whining about her crush instead of prioritizing her own life to survive and then telling your oldest friend that everyone that you hold dear in your life is either a zombie or missing ( girl best friend and crush) so she didn’t want to live anymore. She needed to be reminded about her father who might be worried and doing all that he can do to save her before she realize that she still has someone waiting for her to live. Aside from that she was useless and weak compare to her other classmates and there are so many side story that in the end wasn’t particularly necessary to have.

There is also a lot of plot holes that was so funny to watch that my sister and I keep asking each other if we have miss something because that wasn’t possible to happen. One of those is that magic towel that seems to materialized in the roof top, where could have they gotten that one when they have nothing on them when they were running towards the roof top and the inconsistencies of the “Hambies” power. The difference between Gwi nam, Eun Ji and Nam ra’s abilities were so unfair and I know they are zombies but Gwi nam keeps on reviving everytime when everyone else just die after a major blow to their bodies. There is also the fact that it wasn’t establish what sets them apart from the other zombies, I refused to believe that the will of the father and mother of the male lead and female lead isn’t as strong as the will of Gwi nam to get revenge on Cheong san. Overall, if you just want a good ol’ gory horror film with a lot of meaningless deaths and stupid decision this can be a good series to watch if you have nothing to watch.

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All Of Us Are Dead; A Brainless Gore Fest, Or A Brutal Survival Story?

The increasing popularity of the zombie genre in South-Korean media since the days of Park Joo Seok’s ‘ Train To Busan’ (2016) has exceeded no bounds. Indeed, Netflix’s latest venture into the world of zombies, ‘ All Of Us Are Dead’, enjoyed making several ironic and passing popular-culture references to the heavily influential zombie flick . Nevertheless director Lee Jae Gyo and screenwriter Chun Sung II’s zombie survival series , ‘ All Of Us Are Dead’ , delivered a grisly and somewhat niche insight into the world of zombies, teen-angst and everything in-between…

Based upon Joo Dong Geun’s popular and original webcomic ‘ Now At Our School’, the twelve-episode Netflix series begins on a rainy rooftop in the fictional South-Korean province named Hyosan. A group of high school bullies ( “ iljins”) are shown to be relentlessly tormenting their fellow classmate, Jin-Su. Yet as their punches and beatings become notably more savage and violent , Jin-Su’s reactions to the conflict gradually change also. The gentle pleas of the meek teen suddenly turn into savage and animalistic snarls as Jin-Su’s gentle attitude soon begins to mimic an untamed and feral beast.

After the aftermath of the violent fight scene, viewers are left shocked but aware of the gradual domino effect as revelations and further mysteries are soon brought to light.

A time-skip forwards to the beginning of a new school day at Hyosan High School, brings forward the viewers’ attention towards Kim Hyeon-ju (Jung Yi-seo), an inquisitive high-school student , who unknowingly becomes patient zero to the mysterious zombie virus. Unsurprisingly, it is only a matter of time before there is a sudden snowball effect of rising infections throughout the school.

Caught up in the maelstrom of pandemonium and hysteria, the remaining survivors, including Chung-san (Yoon Chan-young), On-jo (Park Ji-hoo), Nam-ra (Cho Yi-hyun), Lee Soo-hyuk (Park Solomon), Yoo Gwi-nam (Yoo In-soo) and Lee Na-yeon (Lee Yoo-mi) , are left to grapple with unimaginable horrors, sacrifices and truths along the way…

‘ All Of Us Are Dead’ isn’t a series for the lighthearted. Bloodthirsty and brutal from beginning to end, Chung Sung II’s screenplay was gratuitously gory, disturbing and not afraid to delve into some darker subject areas either. However, whilst gore and bloodshed is to be expected in a storyline revolving around the flesh-eating undead, ‘ All Of Us Are Dead’ often felt somewhat distracted by its own investment into grotesque and shock-value carnage also. As a consequence, this notably presented limited opportunities into enforcing pathos and sentimental value for viewers towards its wide ensemble of main characters.

The acting range of ‘ All Of Us Are Dead’ was a slight mixed-bag. The main cast, specifically Cho Yi-hyeon, Lee Yoo-Mi and Yoon Chan Young, were undeniably dynamic and brilliant onscreen. On the other hand, certain performances from particular costars could feel somewhat inconsistent due to a mixed range of line deliverances and acting abilities also.

Nevertheless despite some arguably questionable moments of implicit violence, ‘ All Of Us Are Dead’ did surprisingly offer some crisper moments of respite also. Heartfelt interactions and teen-angst allowed golden-opportunities to exploit the unspoken realities of teenage shenanigans- bullying, social hierarchies, blackmail, peer pressure and sexual assault were notably addressed and touched upon within the drama’s social commentary. However despite certain commendation being deserved towards Chun Sung II and director Lee Jae Gyo‘s tackled subject areas , the attempt to tackle copious amounts of different topics take on against a dystopian zombie apocalypse backdrop, often led to a somewhat ham-fisted approach towards potentially impactful and prominent messages and critiques. In particular by the finale of the series, the overindulgence of subject areas began to slowly slip through the cracks and gave way to the sheer pandemonium of gritty teen-angst.

As for the delivered pace of narrative, Chung Sung II’s screenplay was notably fast-paced and adrenal-infused during initial episodes. However after the fanatic chaos of initial episodes, screenwriter Chung Sung II began to notably downplay chase scenes and conflict in order to draw further attention towards the setups, dilemmas and scenarios of the plot instead. However, this screenwriting decision did present a double-edged sword for the narrative; insightful moments focusing on the storyline did allow opportunities to explore the scope of characters and subplots, whilst also being heavily burdened by a repetitive pattern of storyline events in later episodes.

In particular this became noticeable the following setup; the ragtag team of teens would become wary of one another and drift apart, an external conflict would force them to band together again as a team, a member of the team would decide to embrace their inner-messiah and self-sacrifice themselves, before a teary and angst-ridden resolution would turn the mood somber as the characters remembered their fallen classmate, and then repeat.

Nevertheless, director Jae Gyu’s eye for detail was admittedly fairly commendable within the chosen filming techniques under his directing reign. Whilst the single-camera setup was admittedly a minimalistic approach to filming, Jae Gyu’s usage of changing gradients, darkening tones, angles and key and unobtrusive focus upon the characters and scenarios will truly immerse viewers into the events of the series. The usage of an OST was notably comprised mainly of instrumentals- hoping to draw attention in particular to a synchronic usage of music and imagery, rather than lyrics alone.

‘ All Of Us Are Dead’ offered viewers with a bloodthirsty and angst-ridden zombie drama which whilst certainly delivering an impactful bite into social themes, brutality, imagery and tension, the series often felt as though it but off more than it could chew at times within a lacking scope of character development, writing opportunities and divergence. The ending of the series was notably an unexpected twist which highly delved into a notably more somber tone. Whilst the finale may differ for viewers dependent on expectations, the conclusion certainly did leave some intriguing food for thought also. Overall ‘ All Of Us Are Dead’ is a pacy binge-watch; notably without its questionable flaws, repetitiveness and tropes, but tense enough to keep viewers hooked upon shock-value and adrenaline also.

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How far will you go in order to survive?

"All of us are dead" is a classic zombie drama with a lot of action, thriller and horror elements. Even though the story is nothing groundbreaking, it doesn't fail to deliver enjoyment to the viewers that seek for zombies and epic action.

As the drama consists a very high number of brutal and gore scenes, in addition with bulling and sexual harassment, it's not for the lighthearted. The drama's extreme violence made the drama at times really disturb and difficult to watch. If you know you can't bear it, then avoid it.

As for the drama's pace, the first episode is slow but the drama in general is very fast paced because it contains many action scenes. As the drama is very suspenseful and stressful to offset seriousness, and make the drama easier to watch, at times it has some comic reliefs. Thus, every episode is good watching experience. As it's a 12-episode drama though, it's difficult to binge-watch it right away.


The Story

"All of us are dead" is based on a webtoon by the same name, written by Joo Dong-Geun. The original run of the webtoon was from May, 13th 2009 to November, 9th 2011. The story mainly revolves around the struggle for survival of the students who were trapped in the ground zero for the zombie virus, the school.

Webtoon comparison

The drama adaptation has many differences with the original story that gave it some advantages and disadvantages. I will analyze some of these changes below.

1. The beginning
Unlike the original story, which starts straight away, the drama invests some time to set the characters background. The advantage of this change was that the viewers had the time to get to know the characters so it was easier later to understand their motives and empathize with them. The disadvantage of this change was that the first episode was slow and it may be boring for some of the viewers.

2. The center of the story
In both stories the center of the drama was the school, but in the drama, we see a lot of subplots outside the school that originally didn't exist, or they weren't fully developed. That way, we see a more global picture of the events that took place under the zombie apocalypse. For example, the overall government's response was more carefully written and seemed more logical and comprehensive in drama.

The disadvantage of this change was that some of the extra subplots were completely unnecessary (and illogical) and that could easily put off some viewers (which in my case happened).

3. Characters & relations
As the drama consists of many extra scenes and subplots, some of the characters are extra too. Apart from this, some of the original characters have different storylines, deaths and relationships from the original story. As for the storyline, the actions of a lot of characters changed but their personalities remained the same. As far as the dead are concerned, the only thing that changed was the cause or the timing of their death. This change was neutral for me as the results were the same as the webtoon.

4. Action
The drama is filled with a huge amount of action scenes and almost all of them aren't part of the original story. On the one hand, the action made the drama a thrilling watching experience as some of them were pretty amazing. On the other hand, as far as the story's events are concerned, due to the action "overdose" the story got draggy. This affected the characters also because, even though they had better and more complete background and relations than the webtoon, the necessary time for them to develop through the episodes, wasn't given.

5. The virus' origin
The virus origin that causes the zombie apocalypse is different in the drama. I can't analyze this in detail because I don't want to spoil it. What can I say is that in the drama they tried to make a full background of the virus and support it with sci-fi biology elements which was pretty convincing for someone who doesn't know about biology. Again, this was an advantage for the drama.

6. The ending
Both endings have many similarities but the webtoon ends while the drama may require a second season. As the webtoon has ended, the second season of the drama will be completely unrelated with the original story. The writers don't have elements to base a second season on, so it's unsure if a second season will be released or if it will end up being a good sequence of the story. This change may be a big disadvantage for someone who doesn't like incomplete stories but at least the story has a closure so maybe it's less frustrating.

Conclusion
The drama and the webtoon have countless differences which have both negative and positive effects on the story. We can say that the drama's story is loose based on the webtoon as it just kept the story skeleton and created a new one. In general, I think the adaptation can be considered as a good one.

My overall impression of the drama’s story is not very great, not very bad either. It was a mediocre story and there were many unnecessary and illogical things for me to accept. Also, several same (or almost same) things and events happened which made the story repetitive and tedious at times. What I liked the most, was how it manages to show how differently everyone acts in order to survive or to save someone else.

The production & Acting

The greatest thing about this drama, it's its production and directing, they were just amazing. Maybe "All of us are dead" has one of the best productions a Netflix original kdrama has. From the VFX to the zombie’s make-up, to the choreographed action scenes, to the scene’s shots and transitions, everything was perfectly and meticulously made. The music on the other hand was the weakest part of the production as it wasn't so memorable to me and it felt a little off from time to time.

The acting in general was okay. As I've said before, the drama mainly had action scenes so the actors didn't have enough to work with and create multi-dimensional characters with complex emotions. Some actors, though, manage to shine and catch my attention as a viewer. These were Yoo Chan Young, Jo Yi Hyun and Park Solomon.

Overall

"All of us are dead" was a drama with a mediocre typical story about zombies. It doesn't have the touching story of "Train to Busan”, the mysterious aura of "Kingdom", the uniqueness of "Sweet Home" or "Happiness" but it has one of the best productions of zombie action scenes which makes it a very decent and solid zombie drama. So, if you're looking for a drama for zombies with impressive action elements, watch it for sure. You won't be disappointed.

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