#Alive
A stranded Seoul gamer and the woman across the complex fight to stay human and alive as a zombie outbreak consumes their city.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Graphic
- tense
- claustrophobic
- visceral
- late night horror
- pandemic thriller double feature
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film an accessible and gripping Korean zombie thriller that refreshes the genre through apartment-bound isolation, pandemic-era resonance, and empathetic performances, despite a far-fetched finale.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Joon-woo loses phone service, internet, water, and ordinary social contact while witnessing the outbreak from his apartment.
The protagonists endure the zombie outbreak from separate apartments in the same Seoul residential complex.
Livestreams, phones, drones, and visual signals help Joon-woo and Yoo-bin maintain contact after conventional networks fail.
The film repeatedly juxtaposes apartment interiors, personal belongings, and improvised survival routines with the zombie-filled streets of Seoul.
Films like #Alive, and why
Train to Busan
Shared Korean zombie horror, escalating survival tension, visceral infected attacks, and emotionally grounded human relationships.
The Night Eats the World
Shared apartment-bound survival premise, claustrophobic urban isolation, zombie outbreak, and resource scarcity.
28 Days Later
Shared zombie apocalypse survival, intimate character focus, relentless infected threat, and bleak-but-hopeful resilience.
Quarantine
Shared contained outbreak horror, ordinary people trapped in urban domestic spaces, and mounting paranoia under quarantine-like conditions.
Movie Details
- Director
- Cho Il
- Release Date
- 2020-06-24
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (2123)
Cast
- Yoo Ah-in
- Park Shin-hye
- Lee Hyun-wook
- Jin So-yeon
- Kim Hak-sun
- So Hee-jung
- Joo Bo-bi
- Jeon Bae-soo
- Lee Chae-kyung
- Oh Hye-won
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is #Alive about?
- A stranded Seoul gamer and the woman across the complex fight to stay human and alive as a zombie outbreak consumes their city.
- What is #Alive like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of #Alive as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is #Alive violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in #Alive as graphic.
- What did critics think of #Alive?
- Critics broadly found the film an accessible and gripping Korean zombie thriller that refreshes the genre through apartment-bound isolation, pandemic-era resonance, and empathetic performances, despite a far-fetched finale.
- Which films are like #Alive?
- Films with a similar feel include Train to Busan, The Night Eats the World, 28 Days Later, and Quarantine.
- How long is #Alive?
- #Alive runs 98 minutes.
- Where can I watch #Alive?
- In United States, #Alive streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.
