For fans of The Walking Dead, it's been tough since the show ended its run. The edge-of-your-seat tension, the gut-wrenching losses, and the relentless fight for survival left a void that few zombie stories have managed to fill. That's where #Alive comes in. Chances are you probably never heard of this South Korean survival-horror film, but it might just be the zombie fix you’ve been waiting for!
#Alive was released on Netflix back in 2020, aka the year the world was forced indoors and when isolation became a reality for millions. In that strange, silent year, there wasn't much to do besides watch as many films and series as possible. For some zombie fans, #Alive was the perfect antidote to cabin fever. I was one of them. However, I was still a little hesitant about jumping in at first. After all, zombie movies can be hit or miss, and I'm not a person who likes wasting my time.
I worried that the film might lean too heavily on predictable jump scares or overused zombie tropes, that it might be more spectacle than substance. But within minutes of starting, #Alive shattered those doubts. Instead of slowly building to the point, it only takes about three minutes for the tension to hit with full force.
You have a front-row seat to chaos erupting in a city that looks familiar, yet feels completely alien. The streets of Seoul, normally vibrant and bustling, are suddenly silent except for the horrifying sounds of panic, screams, and the shuffling of the infected. We follow Oh Joon-woo (Yoo Ah-in), a young gamer whose life was once predictable, safe, and comfortably mundane. Suddenly, he finds himself trapped in his high-rise apartment, watching the world outside unravel into complete mayhem.
Neighbors he once greeted now claw, bite, and attack, while the streets he walked daily are littered with abandoned cars and discarded belongings. You immediately feel the panic, the confusion, and the crushing weight of isolation as Joon-woo is forced to rethink every aspect of survival. His family is gone, leaving him completely alone, and the walls of his apartment now feel like a prison.
Joon-woo quickly realizes that his survival depends on ingenuity and adaptability. Furniture becomes barricades, cans of food are carefully rationed, and even a drone becomes a lifeline, allowing him to scout the streets below without risking his life. But as days go by without any real contact with the outside world, the isolation begins to weigh heavily on Joon-woo’s mind.
It’s during this period of suffocating isolation that Joon-woo first notices Kim Yoo-bin (Park Shin-hye), a young woman trapped in a nearby building. At first, their attempts at communication are cautious and fleeting. But soon, a fragile partnership begins to form, driven by the simple human need for connection and mutual aid. They share supplies, exchange survival strategies, and provide each other the emotional support that becomes just as vital as food or water.
But both know that they can't stay in their apartments forever. This is when they decide to make the daring journey to what they believe is an empty floor of the apartment complex. Of course, the tension only escalates even more from here. But I'm not going to say anything else about the plot, so that you can be completely immersed in the suspense for yourself.
Take a look at the thrilling official trailer below for #Alive, and tell me it doesn't look like a zombie flick worth watching!
What makes #Alive especially compelling for fans of The Walking Dead is how it combines raw, edge-of-your-seat tension with an intimate, character-driven story. Unlike sprawling zombie epics that juggle dozens of characters and locations, #Alive zeroes in on the claustrophobic experience of a single survivor and the fragile connection he forms with another trapped human. The result is a tense, emotionally charged survival story that grips you from start to finish.
If you haven't yet watched #Alive, here's your reminder to add this zombie flick to your watchlist. It's a 1-hour and 38-minute movie, so it's not an overwhelming time commitment. Plus, you'll be thoroughly entertained for the entire runtime. You just need to make your way over to Netflix. It'll be ready when you are!