Korean zombie thriller “All Of Us Are Dead” has become Netflix’s fifth most popular non-English-language series debut, Variety has learned exclusively.
On Tuesday, “All of Us Are Dead” debuted on Netflix’s all-time rankings, which tracks the streaming service’s Top 10 most popular non-English TV series based on hours viewed in their first 28 days on Netflix, in the fifth-place slot. Its entrance bumps “The Queen of Flow,” which was previously at 10th, off the list.
At No. 1 on the list is still, of course, the Korean mega-hit “Squid Game,” which racked up 1.65 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days post-launch. Parts 4, 3 and 5 of “Money Heist” (“La casa de papel”) remain in slots 2, 3 and 4, respectively. With “All of Us Are Dead” now in fifth, “Café con aroma de mujer” shifted to No. 6, “Lupin” Part 1 went to No. 7, “Elite” Season 3 fell to No. 8, the first season of “Who Killed Sara?” went to No. 9 and “Elite” Season 4 brought up the rear at No. 10.
Launched Jan. 28, Netflix’s “All Of Us Are Dead” follows a group of students trapped in a high school that find themselves in dire situations as they seek to be rescued from a zombie invasion of their school. Starring Park Ji-hoo, Yoon Chan-young, Jo Yi-hyun, Lomon and Yoo In-soo, “All of Us Are Dead” is written by Kim Nam-soo and directed by Lee Jae-Kyu and Chun Sung-il.
Variety chief TV critic Caroline Framke praised the show’s ability to make “the most out of its nightmarish central location to otherworldly, dizzying effect.”
Framke wrote in her review, “With the high school survivors stuck inside their school for most of the season, writer Chun Sun-il and director Lee JQ have to keep finding inventive ways to make each classroom and confrontation a terrible new challenge — and they do.”