A nonetheless from ‘All of Us Are Lifeless.’ Photograph: Netflix, courtesy of Han Cinema.
With Netflix confirming the return of All of Us Are Dead Season 2, the zombies are again, and so are the questions: What occurred to Lee Cheong-san (Yoon Chan-young) and Yoon Gwi-nam (Yoo In-soo)? Are they each useless? What’s actually behind the zombie virus? Might there be an antidote? What turns into of Choi Nam-ra (Cho Yi-hyun) and the opposite hybrids, caught in a limbo between human and zombie? — A number of cliffhangers that closed the primary season on a excessive word. However earlier than they unravel, take into account what makes All of Us Are Lifeless greater than an exciting zombie apocalypse. Beneath its maddening horror and massacre, the present is a fancy narrative of social points that additionally eerily connects with one in all South Korea’s darkest moments—the Sewol Ferry tragedy. And in a hanging coincidence, BTS’s music, “Spring Day,” captures the feelings of that tragedy in a approach that additionally resonates deeply with the drama.
All of Us Are Lifeless’s Hyosan Excessive College serves as a microcosm of South Korean society’s darker facet, and if something, many others worldwide, opening the festering wounds of bullying, social inequality, and institutional failure. The zombies are solely the monsters on the floor if you notice alongside the best way that the true monstrosity lies within the harsh societal pressures influencing the characters’ lives within the story. Gwi-nam, for instance, is the ruthless face of bullying who’s incorrigible and cruel; Lee Na-yeon (Lee Yoo-mi), the wealthy, spoiled brat, personifies class disparities along with her entitled angle; Jang Ha-ri (Ha Seung-ri), struggling as a feminine athlete, factors out sexist attitudes; and Yang Dae-su (Im Jae-hyuk), usually shamed for being fats, reminds us of the suffocating, one-dimensional magnificence requirements.
In the long run, All of Us Are Lifeless is much less about its zombies and extra about its folks, who’re struggling so arduous to stay—to be seen, heard, and valued—in a world that appears virtually decided to erase them. It questions the society, reveals the monsters it has created, and leaves us desirous about what it actually means to outlive.
The present has usually been mentioned to be harking back to the horrors of the M.V. Sewol ferry tragedy, which claimed 304 lives on April 16, 2014. The overloaded ferry, carrying 476 folks, together with 325 college students from Danwon Excessive College, turned a recipe for catastrophe, capsized and sank on its strategy to Jeju Island, forsaking a trail of grief and severe outrage with South Korea’s security protocols and emergency response programs, with many criticizing the authorities’ gradual response and lack of preparedness. Because the catastrophe struck, the scholars on board have been merely left to their destiny. According to The Korea Herald, the dearth of rescue efforts on the a part of the crew was a serious contributing issue to the large variety of casualties, with Captain Lee Joon-seok’s choice to desert ship with out making certain passenger security being surprising on his half. His instruction to the crew to inform passengers to “keep of their spots” resulted in a lethal delay for these attempting to flee.
In All of Us Are Lifeless, the same sense of desperation and mayhem is introduced on by the zombie outbreak ravaging Hyosan Excessive College—drawing parallels with the Sewol incident—and highlighting the failures of individuals and authorities involved to guard the susceptible. Simply because the ferry’s passengers have been let down by the system, the scholars within the sequence are failed by their faculty’s administration, which was solely bent on prioritizing status over security. Each the reel and actual conditions shine a light-weight on the human value of such failures and the necessity for accountability, preparedness, and alter. The video clip, with a whole lot of raging zombies, is a haunting allegory for the determined battle of the scholars and different passengers whereas the ferry stored sinking.
Three years down the road, after the catastrophe, BTS launched their music “Spring Day,” which was universally praised by critics for its manufacturing, lyrics, and vocal efficiency. In keeping with band member RM, the music’s lyrics have been impressed by his eager for his faculty associates as he mirrored throughout a V Reside broadcast, additionally elaborating that the music’s about holding onto reminiscences and therapeutic with time. The lyrics “I hate you, you left me/However I by no means stopped desirous about you, not even for a day/I miss you, actually” seize the ache of separation and the craving that lingers lengthy after. And although “Spring Day” doesn’t explicitly inform the story of Sewol, its emotional resonance with the tragedy is apparent, resonating with the identical ache of loss and longing that is still and is usually thought-about to evoke the wistful reminiscences of the occasion.
The connection can be significant when thought-about alongside the themes of All of Us Are Lifeless. BTS member Suga’s definition of “Spring Day” as “a zombie, she by no means dies,” I feel, takes on a profound that means on this context—the ache and trauma of loss can persist, refusing to be erased. And but, just like the zombies who hang-out the present, the reminiscences of what was misplaced proceed to stay with us. Finally, “Spring Day” turns into an ode to what may have been, an expression of the enduring energy of human connection and resilience, and undoubtedly a reminder that even within the darkest moments, the promise of spring—of renewal, rebirth, and therapeutic—stays like hope guiding us by way of darkness.