Netflix's South Korean zombie series All of Us Are Dead provides a high-intensity experience for fans of the Resident Evil franchise. The 12-episode show, based on a webtoon by Joo Dong-geun, follows students trapped in a school during a sudden outbreak.
The 2026 horror landscape and the Resident Evil connection
The horror genre is witnessing a massive resurgence in 2026, fueled by the success of major franchises like Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil and Evil Dead Burn. As the report notes , these properties have successfully leaned into visceral gore and mayhem without the heavy psychological trauma often associated with modern "elevated horror."
All of Us Are Dead aligns itself with this trend, offering a high-octane experience that prioritizes scares and intensity over slow-burn psychological dread. This shift in the market, marked by the July 10 release of Evil Dead Burn and the September 18 arrival of Resident Evil, suggests a growing appetite for pure, unadulterated genre thrills.
A 12-episode cinematic experience set within a single school
All of Us Are Dead functions more like a feature-length film than a traditional episodic television series. Although the show is divided into 12 episodes, each running between 53 and 71 minutes, the narrative remains tightly focused on a single high school location over a period of just a few days.
The source describes the series as a zombie movie that has been "sliced into 12 pieces," ensuring that the stakes ramp up continuously without the typical mid-season lulls found in long-form TV. By keeping the ensemble relatively small and the setting contained, the creators maintain a level of tension that mimics a cinematic horror experience.
Military incompetence and viral vectors in the South Korean outbreak
The thematic parallels between the Netflix series and the Resident Evil games extend to the portrayal of institutional failure and biological contagion. The source highlights that the military's incompetence or malevolence serves as a primary driver of tension, making the authorities just as threatening to the trapped students as the zombies themselves.
Furthermore , the biological mechanics of the outbreak—where animals and other organisms are also susceptible to infection—echo the viral vectors found in the Resident Evil universe. This sense of chaos is bolstered by the show's TV-MA rating, which allows creators Chun Sung-il, JQ Lee, and Kim Nam-su to explore the genre's more violent elements across action, sci-fi, and fantasy categories.
What remains unaddressed in the Chun Sung-il-led production?
Several critical details regarding the future of this South Korean production remain unverified. While the series is a significant hit for Netflix,the report does not confirm whether the creators have plans for a second season to expand upon the original webtoon by Joo Dong-geun.
Additionally, while the show explores the immediate terror of the outbreak, the specific scientific origins of the virus are not detailed in the current reporting. It remains to be seen if the series will eventually provide a deeper biological backstory or if it will remain focused primarily on the immediate survival drama of the high school students.
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