“All of Us Are Dead” is a new Korean survival drama series that you can watch on the Netflix streaming service. This is the story of schoolchildren caught in the epicenter of a zombie epidemic.

The action of the series takes place in a school in the city of Hyesan. On a typical morning, teenagers gather at the traffic lights – as soon as the green light turns on, a huge crowd will rush across the road, trying to be in time for the start of the lessons. They worry, fool around and overtake each other. In just a few hours, many of them will turn into a ruthless herd of zombies, which mindlessly runs forward, smelling the victim’s scent.

In fact, some of the students were monsters during their lifetime. They mocked weak classmates, humiliated them and drove them to thoughts of suicide. It was school bullying that caused the appearance of zombies. The defenselessness of his own child prompted a biology teacher to create a virus that turns people into the living dead.

We’re All Dead is based on the Korean webcomic Now at Our School. The series has 12 episodes, which last about an hour. At first, it seems that a long running time is a clear overkill, and I would like to speed up the pace of the series. But this is only the first impression, with the development of the plot it will change for the better.

The plot, which is swaying for a long time, has its own meaning – the showrunners show the atmosphere inside the school even before the start of large-scale zombie events. The writers focus on light-hearted chatter between friends and switch to incidents in which the students show particular cruelty.

By the second or third series, the introduction with an acquaintance produces the desired effect, and the series begins to drag out a story about survival. Among a large number of students, a group of main characters is formed – there are clear leaders who risk themselves and organize teamwork.

Remarkably, the silent heroes also show their character, no one remains in the position of a nameless crowd. Therefore, you quickly become attached to the heroes, and when someone dies (and in the conditions of a zombie apocalypse, you can’t do without it), it always causes emotions. And, of course, the plot is not complete without teenage love – for leaders, it becomes a driving force that does not allow them to sit idly by.

With each episode, the series “We’re All Dead” becomes more and more interesting. The number of zombies increases, and the heroes constantly fall into traps, locking themselves in school premises (each time teenagers have to think over a new escape plan, inventing distracting maneuvers).

The dead move fast, so there’s plenty of intense action to be had. Thanks to the camera work, these scenes do not get bored – the chases are shown in different situations and angles. Take the scene in the library where bookshelves fall like dominoes. Or a special operation of soldiers, imitating a first-person shooter.

The events of the series take place not only on the territory of the school, gradually the plot turns on new heroes who are located in other parts of Hyesan. Here is a detective who cannot pass by those who need help. And a desperate blogger who streams from the place where the zombie epidemic began. And parents of students who are trying to get to their children. And a politician who is waiting for the right moment to use the situation to his advantage. And the military, who cordoned off the city, establishing quarantine rules.

Despite the hopelessness of the situation, funny moments slip through the series. Schoolchildren mention “Zombieland” and say that what is happening is similar to the movie “Train to Busan” . One of the most good-natured students often defuses the situation, and the escape of the police on a scooter seems to be cut out of a comedy film.

But otherwise, this is a drama about high school students whose life was not easy even before the zombies. When the world they were accustomed to collapsed, they had to grow up, adapt and learn to accept losses. Someone finally revealed himself to his friends, someone stopped being a victim and turned into a predator, and someone remained a monster incapable of sympathy.

For 12 episodes, the series “We’re All Dead” fully opened up and came to an interesting finale. It’s better for showrunners to stop here, without continuing the story for a second season, as happens with popular Netflix projects (for example, the Squid Game series was extended for a second season, and this is only “the beginning of the universe” ).