Who will like "We're All Dead" - an incredibly long Korean series about schoolchildren and zombies

Back in 2021, the “Korean wave” swept over Netflix. First, The Squid Game blew up the ratings, then Sea of ​​Tranquility and Call of Hell just as quickly took off. And now, another show from South Korea, “We are all dead,” has become the leader in views, and already a day after the release. So far, the series has a good rating on Rotten Tomatoes: 79% positive reviews from critics and 82% from viewers.

"We're all dead" like "call of hell”, is based on a digital comic created specifically for reading on a smartphone. In Korea, such graphic novels are called webtoons, and they have been made into dramas, animated series, and films for quite some time.

According to the plot, a school biology teacher decides to inject his son with a serum so that he can fight back the hooligans who constantly bully him. The drug is supposed to make the guy stronger, but instead turns him into an aggressive cannibal. Meanwhile, one of the laboratory hamsters, infected with a virus, bites a schoolgirl, and a zombie apocalypse begins in the educational institution.

The infection is spreading rapidly, and the living dead soon fill the entire city. Two groups of teenagers, having shown incredible dexterity and ingenuity, manage to hide in the school. But no one wants to save them. Instead of taking citizens out of the danger zone, the government closes the borders of the town and cuts off telephone and Internet communications.

All hope for the father of one of the students - an experienced firefighter who uses survival skills to get to his daughter, as well as to a young and brave policeman who knows how to stop epidemic.

It is unlikely that "We are all dead" will get close to success "squid games”, which broke all records not only in views, but also in memes. He will also definitely infuriate those who are sick of the endless showdown and inappropriate comic inserts. But some viewers will still like the series. And who should definitely watch it?

For those who love grotesque horror stories

It seems We're All Dead was deliberately made as a B-movie (in this case, a TV series). Once such were considered all low-budget commercial productions that exploit the audience's interest in special effects, fights or creepy monsters. But over time, B-movies became so popular that even intellectuals fell in love with them. And cult directors like Quentin Tarantino grew up on this kind of paintings and were inspired by them for their own work.

In the case of “We are all dead”, there is so much grotesque on the screen that the action very soon turns into kitsch and you simply stop looking for logic in what is happening. For example, we might be shown artisanal childbirth in a toilet during a zombie apocalypse. At the same time, the woman in labor - a frightened high school student - does not even have a visible belly. And, having barely given birth, she is already ready to briskly run away from the monsters.

For those who love dramas and signature Korean melodrama

Regular viewers drama probably remember how emotional characters are usually in Korean dramas. The heroes of "We're All Dead" are just that - they react very impetuously to everything and say the obvious things aloud. Even in conditions of severe hunger, thirst and lack of sleep, the love quadrangle in which the guys find themselves occupies them no less than the possibility of dying at any moment. In general, if you sincerely get high from sorting things out to gentle, pacifying music and are ready come to terms with the fact that these moments take up a huge part of the timing - "We are all dead" is simply made for you.

For those who were waiting for a mix of "Elite" and "Sex Education" with "Euphoria” and zombies, it’s better not to even turn on the series. Although the topics of school bullying and social inequality are also raised here. But the authors of the Korean hit are much more interested in whether Soo Hyuk will reciprocate Ong Jo's sympathy or prefer another girl to her.

For those who are ready to accept inappropriate humor

Once again, drama lovers shouldn't be too surprised. Koreans easily mix genres with each other and calmly dilute the horror moments with some funny Benny Hill Show-style chase. Also, the effect of accelerated shooting can be added to make it funnier. When the bitten heroine gains superpowers, including incredibly acute hearing, she hears her classmates emit gases (here, apparently, it is also supposed to giggle).

If you have watched a lot Korean cinema and are accustomed to the combination of humor and violence, the series will seem interesting to you just due to such a bright contrast. But the rest of the authors' attempts to defuse the atmosphere are more likely to enter into a stupor.

For those who love beautifully choreographed fights

But for the energetic episodes of fights, “We are all dead” can be recommended to absolutely everyone. Escaping from agile and fast enemies, the heroes jump across their desks, overcome a variety of obstacles, climb a fire hose from one floor to another. You have to watch this with bated breath, especially since the characters often find themselves on the verge of death.

But there are a lot of oddities here too. So, in the Korean zombie horror "Train to Busan”, which is often compared to “We are all dead”, the heroes also had to fight hordes of monsters. But still, the capabilities of the characters did not go beyond the human: they got tired, did not know how to run fast enough, and did not scatter zombies like skittles.

Here, the authors sometimes flirt with the "House of Flying Daggers". This is where funny action moments come from, in which a simple student or an ordinary middle-aged firefighter suddenly demonstrates enviable parkour skills and almost flies.

For those who are motivated and patient enough

Now we will talk about the biggest drawback of the series, which is unlikely to allow it to become a real hit. This is an incredibly long run. And sometimes it seems that the scenes are simply unreasonably long.

This is especially true for the first three episodes. It is there that there are episodes in which the characters die for so long that you involuntarily wonder why the characters simply do not finish them off with a chair. From these series, you can easily throw out half of the events, or even more. The plot doesn't suffer at all.

True, after the fourth episode, the show revives, there is more action in it, and the story arcs finally line up into something understandable. But still, watching all 12 episodes, each of which is longer than an hour, is a real test. Plus, the plot twists in the first half of the series are terribly cliched, and you can predict which characters will die in advance (and even guess in what order).

If you sincerely adore Korean melodrama, cute replays, dialogues in the spirit of Tommy Wiseau and in addition, we are sure that the zombies do everything better - "We are all dead" you will rather like it. But even if you're ready for a 12-hour marathon, be patient, because through the first three episodes you will have to wade through like a horde of zombies.