What Is ‘All of Us Are Dead’? Everything You Need to Know About the Netflix Series

Leave it to a bunch of teens to inject some new life into the tired genre of zombie thrillers.

All of Us Are Dead, the new gory series from Netflix, follows a group of high school students amid an apocalyptic zombie outbreak, right on campus.

The show reportedly hit the No. 1 spot on Netflix charts around the world not long after its release on Jan. 28, as people tore through its dozen hourlong episodes.

The series was directed by Lee Jae-kyoo, who’s known for his previous work on Damo, Beethoven Virus, and Intimate Strangers. He’s joined by writer Chun Sung-iI, who also wrote The Slave Hunters and The Pirates.

Of course, it’s not the first time South Korea has sunk its teeth into zombie thrillers, a popular genre in Korean entertainment. 

In 2016, Train to Busan converted people around the world into believers in zombie stories, South Korean productions, or both, as did films like The Wailing, #Alive, and Peninsula (the sequel to Train to Busan), and TV shows like Kingdom. 

But will All of Us Are Dead give viewers as much life as these hits did? Here’s everything you need to know to decide if you want to stay clear of the outbreak, or go ahead and get bitten.

All of Us Are Dead combines the otherworldly urgency of a deadly zombie outbreak with all-too-relatable high school life—think Euphoria-like teen drama, but with, uh, blood and severed body parts instead of sex and drugs.

The characters in the show might as well be half-dead as they navigate the pressures of university entrance exams, the violence of classroom bullies, the realities of lunch-time gossip, and the social dynamics between the cool kids and the outcasts—all before the zombies make it to campus.

Still, their youthful hopes and dreams—along with classroom banter and puppy love—make them relatable and human, as their stories unfold through the story. 

More than just a picture of high school horrors, however, the show also raises a blood-stained mirror at society at large, as it depicts chaotic government quarantine facilities and authorities’ vain attempts at controlling a viral outbreak.

The show is based on the webtoon Now at Our School by Joo Dong-geun. Viewers have pointed out how the series remains faithful to its source, as director Lee Jae-kyoo has confirmed in an interview with Gossip Chimp: “It’s similar to the basic story in terms of the original work. The flow of the storyline also doesn’t depart much from the original.”

“However, you might get the feeling that the show is different from the original as far as the specific situations that happen to some of the kids, as well as what each of the characters are like,” the director added.

Apt for this fresh take on a zombie story is its cast of fresh faces. Yoon Chan-young (Dr. Romantic, Still 17) made his debut in 2013 in the drama Mama, for which he won the MBC Drama Award for Best Child Actor. He’s joined by 18-year-old Park Ji-hu (Beautiful World and House of Hummingbird), who’s also set to star in the upcoming South Korean television drama Little Women. Also in class are rising actor Park Solomon, a.k.a. Lomon (Sweet Revenge), Cho Yi-hyun (Hospital Playlist), and Lee Yoo-mi (Squid Game), Ham Sung-min (Sweet Home), and Yoo In-soo (Love Alarm).

The kids are ushered into the apocalypse of global fame by veteran actors Kim Byung-chul (Goblin, SKY Castle) and Jeon Bae-soo (You Will Know, Stranger).

The jury is still out on whether All Of Us Are Dead will be renewed for a second season, but (semi-spoiler alert) the first season’s finale definitely leaves the school gates wide open for more zombie gore and high school mayhem. 

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