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All of Us Are Dead Star Says Netflix's Zombie Thriller Captures Gen Z Feelings of Dual Identity


Netflix's coming-of-age Korean zombie thriller All of Us Are Dead continues to dominate the streamer's charts, claiming the #1 spot in more than 50 countries, and it's currently #2 in the U.S. (beaten by Sweet Magnolias).

Written by Chun Sung-il and directed by Lee Jae-kyu and Kim Nam-su, the 12-episode K-drama follows a group of students trapped in Hyosan High that find themselves in desperate situations as they try to escape the zombie apocalypse of their high-school. In contrast other South Korean zombie titles, All of Us Are Dead, which is based on the digital Webtoon comic, Now at Our School by Joo Dong-geun, the cast of the show are relatively young actors, including Park ji-hoo, Yoon Chan-young, Park Solomon (a.k.a. Lomon), Cho Yi-hyun, and Yoo In-soo.

Now, Cho Yi-hyun, who plays the antisocial class president who later turns into a half-zombie, explains how the show captured Gen Z feelings of dual identity.

In the finale of All of Us Are Dead, the surviving students of the zombie apocalypse cross a wall and remember those they lost after questioning and voicing feelings of being abandoned by the government.

Nam-ra says, "You know how students are not children but not yet adults either? I’m like that. I’m neither human nor a monster.”

In an email interview with NBC Asian America, Cho explains how the show depicts dual identity: "Everyone faces an identity crisis at one point in their life. As a teenager, I also felt like an adult but not yet an adult. I went through stages like that. In those aspects, I related to Nam-ra,” the 22-year-old actress said.

In the show, Nam-ra turned into a half zombie after she was bitten by bully-turned-half-zombie Yoo Gwi-nam while defending Le Su-hyeok (played by Park Solomon, aka Lomon). Cho and Lomon also recently revealed that their kissing scene took 17 takes.

Recently, All of Us Are Dead became Netflix's 5th most popular non-English-language series debut.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Netflix, Kdrama, K-Wave, and Geek Culture pages.