All of Us Are Dead Offers More Than Just a Zombie Apocalypse

So here is the thing, last night I thought of watching recently launched Netflix show as it was trending in many countries including India where it was #1 on the list. I gave it a shot and it turned out to be so attention grabbing that I couldn't stop myself binge watching it. Actually it is a coming-of-age Korean streaming TV series about a zombie apocalypse occurring in a city. When it comes to delivering a sensational zombie genre movie or show, the Korean movie industry is unmatchable but this particular show brings more than that on the table.

Through its unexpected and thrilling moments and exceptional cast who make you undergo and experience every moment as it is happening in front of you, this one has covered many aspects where each one of them is a whole topic for discussion in itself. I tried to cover most of them here, so be ready to attain an insight as they leave you with a lot of thoughts and notions.

Emotional Aspect :

This one has a perfect emotional diet to feed you as this whole series is saturated with feelings and emotions. Slow storytelling is an important and major factor to strengthen emotional hold amid all the action going on. Emotional conversations between characters with deep meaning behind it leave you with a blend of feelings. Emotional bonds between characters like Nam So-ju’s with his son and Nam On-jo’s with her father are presented beautifully. I especially enjoyed this aspect of the show.

Human Relations Defined Splendidly :

We can experience almost all the important relationships in the show that could be between two sides. Relationship like parents and their children where it is shown between Nam So-joo and his daughter Nam On-jo which is so overwhelming to watch. Relationship between two friends is also portrayed by On-jo with her best friend I-sak and Cheongsan with his best friend Gyeong-su where they present the sweet and sour of the relationship.

A healthy student-teacher relationship is gracefully shown by English teacher Miss Park Sun-hwa and surviving students of class 2-5. We mildly get to see relationship between two people having love interests in each other ( Suhyeok and Nam-ra) and love triangle situation is also illustrated where we get to see two of them, first one with Cheongsan who likes On-jo who likes Suhyeok and the other one with On-jo who likes Suhyeok who likes Nam-ra. Thus we can say this one has touched almost each and every corner of relationship aspect and presented flauntlessly. I personally like the relationship between Cheyongsan and On-jo where it is pretty unclear to interpret and define.

Addresses Social Issues :

Director Lee Jae Kyu has addressed social issues like bullying and harassment and teen pregnancy in the show as these are the issues which hardly get recognised by our society and ignored usually. This series shows how bullying someone can destroy his/her life to an extent where everything becomes numb and meaningless to the person being bullied. We also get to witness how people in authority try to slide everything under the rug for the sake of reputation with the case of school principal of Hyosan High School. Another issue where the rich guy scorns the poor guy is addressed with Na-yeon hating Gyeonsan all the time and calling him a welfie (a person on welfare) mocking his economic condition. All these things happening in real society are depressing and need to be uprooted and All of Us Are Dead works as a mirror of contemporary society with these things.

Cinematography :

It is more of a technical aspect but it needs to be addressed and appreciated. All the distinctive functions of Korean cinematography from camera angles to flavor of slow-mos and unique color grading, everything is here to astonish you. It shows the amount of hard work gone into making this. I really like the canteen scene in the starting of the second episode which is taken in one shot with lots of things going on in the backdrop.

Though many claim this show to be lengthy in runtime, All of Us Are Dead is the series which has the potential to remain with you for a very long time. In my opinion its length is the factor for it being felt so connected and syncing reality with the show to make you live this whole scenario. Other than that I am also proud as it leads the Asian entertainment market and casts its impression on the world and shows its potential.