Stream It Or Skip It: ‘#Alive’ On Netflix, A South Korean Zombie Thriller That Leans Into the Anxieties of Isolation

Lockdown got you, well, down? Just remember that it could always be worse. Like, zombies waiting for you outside worse. That’s exactly the world one young man wakes up to in #Alive, a South Korean thriller now streaming on Netflix. In a time where many of us still can’t leave our apartments, this flick feels a little close to home. We investigate whether #Alive is a worthy addition to the zombie genre, or if you’re better off not sinking your teeth into this one.

#ALIVE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Joon-woo is a millennial gamer who wakes up to find his entire world has changed. While he initially thinks he’s simply been left at home for a bit while his parents and sister went out, he soon realizes that they aren’t returning anytime soon. The streets below his apartment have become overrun with flesh-eating zombies, created by a mysterious, fast-spreading disease. The infected begin to bleed from their eyes and become hostile, eventually turning to cannibalism and eating any human they encounter. Joon-woo survives a near-death experience with an infected neighbor early on, and barricades himself in the apartment. He posts a photo on social media in the hopes that someone may see his SOS call and come to rescue him, but no one does. Days pass and he slowly begins to question his reality, realizing he doesn’t have nearly enough food or water to survive a lockdown with no end in sight.

Just when all hope seems to be lost, Joon-woo forms an unlikely alliance with a young woman named Kim Yoo-bin (Park Shin-hye) who lives in an apartment across the street from him. It turns out she’s been keeping an eye on her fellow survivor, and the duo begins to take care of one another in hopes of emerging from this unfathomable situation with their lives intact. Protected with booby traps she’s set up in her apartment and armed with a little more hope than her neighbor, Kim Yoo-bin helps Joon-woo find his will to live again. Will the two survive? Become zombie dinner? Stay in their apartments forever? The morbid possibilities are endless.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: If you’re a lover of zombies and the fight to stay alive, this is pretty much right in line with genre classics. It might call to mind flicks like Train to Busan, another fantastic South Korean zombie flick, REC, and English language zombie movies like 28 Days Later, The Crazies, and plenty others.

Performance Worth Watching: It may feel like the easy choice because he is the lead, but #Alive really belongs to Yoo Ah-in. He proved himself as one to watch in Burning, and #Alive only further speaks to his talent. Yoo spends much of the film totally by himself, finding ways to pass the time in lockdown and aching to see his family or return to any sense of normalcy. He’s able to play both humor and utter devastation, and this performance is another exceptional line on his lengthy resume and an extremely compelling argument for casting him in future projects.

Memorable Dialogue: There isn’t really any contender for this but “you must survive”, the mantra from his family that keeps our leading man going for the entirety of the film. It might feel a little on the nose, but I felt it was resonant enough to drive home.

Single Best Shot: The best shots in #Alive are full of spoilers, so we’ll leave you to decide your favorites for yourselves.

Sex and Skin: The most skin you get here if when it’s being torn apart and shoved into the mouths of bloodthirsty zombies, so you’ll have to look elsewhere if you’re in the mood for that kind of thing.

Our Take: #Alive is a smart, simple zombie thriller that says more than your average brain-eater flick. Rather than getting caught up in long-winded exposition about the origination of the virus and lots of character background, it takes us right into the action, pairing us with our protagonist from the get-go. A movie has to have a lot going for it to work in a singular setting (for the most part), and #Alive does a lot with a little bit of space. Yoo Ah-in turns in a stellar performance, allowing us to sleep and wake and pass the time hand in hand with him. The lockdown certainly does elicit some pretty familiar feelings, and I’ll admit I occasionally yearned for a change of scenery – but I was never bored. The imminent sense of terror never falters, and just when you start to get too comfortable, something unexpectedly rattles you (and it never feels like a cheap jump scare).

Rather than sticking us with a group we watch get picked off one by one (whether by zombies or by each other), #Alive makes the better move. Allowing us to believe that Joon-woo is a lone survivor gives the film the opportunity to go in many directions until we finally encounter Kim Yoo-bin. Is this movie going to be the sad tale of a man wasting away in his apartment? Of plotting escape routes? Of finally succumbing to the hungry fiends outside his door? Any of these options feel possible until an unexpected friend shines a laser through his window, and her addition is a welcome one that changes the course of the film in a way that creates more levity and higher stakes. (She’s also incredibly funny and has a great deadpan).

In addition to a strong script and terrific performances, #Alive is also genuinely terrifying and visually interesting. The film employs technology in a way that never feels hokey or out of place; even some occasional drone footage really works. (I won’t spoil my favorite use of the drone, but it’s something I haven’t seen done this well before). There are plenty of tried-and-true scary zombie chases, sure, but the more creative sequences – specifically one involving a string hanging off a balcony – are the ones that make #Alive sing. It’s been a minute since I saw a zombie movie that managed to scare and move me, but #Alive checks both those boxes and more.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, #Alive is lean and mean and emotionally resonant. Thanks to top-notch performances, genuinely gruesome special effects, and a tight script, #Alive manages to overcome genre pitfalls and predictable plot twists and deliver something truly memorable.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.

Stream #Alive On Netflix