All of Us Are Dead review: The zombie show I wish The Walking Dead was

For zombie representation, the last decade was a remarkable one. The undead community — largely voiceless thanks to decomposed vocal chords — has been the unrelenting focus of one of the most expansive television franchises in recent memory, The Walking Dead. There have been 274 Walking Dead episodes aired to date across two series, as well as the spin-offs. New series are in the works and there will be many more. This is a remarkable feat, but also one that can be overwhelming: Any new show based on zombies must strive to break out. The Walking Dead’s long shadow. Fortunately, We are all dead, Netflix’s popular K-Drama import about a zombie outbreak in a Korean high school, pulls it off with a simple trick: It’s not so damn .

This doesn’t mean We are all dead It is toothless. It’s a violent, brutal story where the classmates of Hyosan High School’s Class 2-5 slowly watch their friends and teachers turn monstrous and do horrible things to one another. Because of its large cast, which eventually includes everyone from Hyosan, it can focus on the specifics that are lost in such a catastrophe and preserve what is important. It uses character-focused writing to show how the cast relate to one another. We are all dead never loses its focus on people — even after they turn to zombies.

Concentrated on the beginning of the epidemic We are all deadIt kicks off the zombie apocalypse with a very typical manner. Kim Hyeonju (Jung Yiseo), a student, discovers a mouse inside the science laboratory that had been experimented upon by Lee Byeongchan (Kim Byungchul), a mysterious and aloof science teacher. When it bites her, the clock starts ticking on the high school around her — and Hyosan as a whole.

Photo: Yang Hae-sung/Netflix

Much of what follows is rather formulaic, but what zombie story isn’t? Both teachers and students become infected quickly. Many are cowardly, unwilling or unable to help. Students who realize what’s happening (this is — thank God — a show where people know what zombies are, and even name-drop Busan to TrainThey begin to worry about their fellow victims. The plague spreads to emergency personnel. The plague continues to spread.

We are all dead commits to making all these familiar aspects exciting: There’s a physicality to the camerawork and choreography that provides plenty of holy-shit moments, both thanks to fight scenes (the more athletic students of Hyosan High School are very happy to beat the hell out of some zombies) and gory horror, and while it’s wide scope does get a little You can also wide at times, sprawling outward into Hyosan proper let’s the series loosen up and introduce some variety.

This is all ancillary. How can I help? We are all deadSpends the majority of its time with relationships. Na-yeon (Lee Yoomi), in his wealth and privilege, will more often tear down others than it is to help them live. Su-hyeok is a former delinquent who doesn’t have much academic potential and crushes Namra (Cho Yi Yihyun), the class leader.

This series contains layers of these relationships. It flashes back to times when they were bullied or petty cruelty and small kindnesses. These acts reverberate into their present making the apocalypse very personal for them.

Photo: Yang Hae-sung/Netflix

This place of emphasis on character creates character We are all deadA different morality than what is shown in The Walking Dead mold. It shows how the human spirit is wired to help in crises and also how unkindness or lack of empathy can lead to a difficult cooperation. The Walking Dead’s moral universe — with its endless parade of groups that turn to depravity in order to survive, and its constant redrawing of ethical lines — is a fundamentally mean one, where might frequently makes right. It’s a prepper fantasy uninterested in society or culture, and while there have been exceptions (the fifth season of spin-off series Fear the Walking DeadThe series is built specifically around helping other characters. But, it never overcame the sadness of the first season’s revelation that everyone is the Walking Dead. The zombie plague lurks in everyone, and is waiting to transform humans into another species.

We are all dead takes its time revealing the specifics of how its zombie virus works, but it makes its take on the metaphor clear early on: It’s what happens when the will to survive isn’t tempered by humanity, and the natural endpoint of casual cruelty on every level — from school bullies to uncaring bureaucrats in government. It’s a show that argues that we should root for the living, because maybe we’ve forgotten how.