Photo by Mollie Sivaram on Unsplash
By Dakota Hornak, Contributing Writer
Note: Spoilers below.
A new Korean zombie film, “#Alive,” was released this past summer on Netflix and features an interesting mix of thriller and comedy. It is available to stream with subtitles or dubbed in English. Opening with gamer Jun-Woo home alone, the audience follows along as he begins to fully realize the reality of the apocalypse and begins to survive.
The building opposite of him holds the only other survivor seen in the film, Yoo-Bin, whose goal by the end of the movie is to be with the main character in one safe location. Their interactions across the parking lot are what pulls viewers in and helps them to fully empathize with the lack of face-to-face communication.
This film changes zombie movies and uses the modernized types of zombies seen in movies such as “Zombieland” but combines the action with emotional and humorous scenes. It’s filmed and edited in styles similar to “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” with quick pans, impactful close-up shots of intense moments and graphic and editing that adds comedic relief when necessary.
The involvement of technology is another thing that makes “#Alive” original. Because it is set in modern times, internet and electricity last longer than you see in normal undead films, leaving Jun-Woo time to post a photo with hashtags saying he would survive. The main character learned about the apocalypse from his viewers while video game streaming.
He goes on to use a drone to identify areas that are clear, and ultimately, the internet is what allows them to be discovered and saved. Once technology is taken away from him, you see Jun-Woo struggle in isolation. It makes the audience feel even more a part of his isolation as he realizes he doesn’t have the one thing he always relied on for communication
Though it can be difficult sometimes to know exactly how you should feel during certain moments because of how quickly it moves, the innovations from classic zombie movies create an engaging and fun thriller to watch at any time, alone or with your best zombie apocalypse team. I highly recommend watching this film, especially with subtitles opposed to the English dub, and fully immersing yourself into this new age of zombie-based thrillers.
