LIFE & CULTURE

The Ending Of Netflix’s Latest Cult Horror ‘All Of Us Are Dead’ Explained

The show everyone is talking about.
all-of-us-are-deadNetflix

Warning: This article contains major spoilers to Netflix’s All Of Us Are Dead

If you’re a fan of horror zombie films, All Of Us Are Dead will undoubtedly be next on your list (if you haven’t binged it already). 

The Korean-made 10-part Netflix series, adapted by writer Chun Sung-il from a popular online comic, Now at Our School by Joo Dong-geun, follows the events of a zombie virus outbreak which originates between students at a high school. 

Starring a formidable cast of young talent, including breakout star from the not-so-little Korean television series, Squid Game‘s Lee Yoo-mi, the series is full of jump starts, shocking twists, flesh eating and even variants of the zombie virus which cause even more confusion between students (sound familiar?). 

Chun Sung-il’s major cliffhanger in the final episode left fans scrambling for answers, or at least hoping for a second season to find out what happens next. 

Here, we explain what that ending actually meant, and whether a second season is on the horizon. 

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(Credit: Netflix)

What happened at the end of All Of Us Are Dead?

The final episode of All Of Us Are Dead sees the surviving students, including On-jo (Park Ji-hoo) and Su-hyeok (Park Solomon) taken by the military where they are initially locked up and quarantined. 

Sadly, one of their friends Nam-ra (Cho Yi-hyun) decides to part ways with them just before they get caught due to the fact that she was infected with a variant of the zombie virus. While she’s not a full zombie, she occasionally craves human flesh and doesn’t want to risk infecting (or worse, killing) one of the group. 

Then, we fast-forward to four months later when it appears the zombie virus is beginning to wane and some of the strict quarantine rules are relaxed. It means the surviving students in the military are able to sneak out at night, where they notice a campfire in the distance. 

Led by On-jo, who has a hunch about the fire, the group decide to approach the person who lit it. Sure enough, it’s their friend Nam-ra, who excitedly greets them and appears far happier than they’ve ever seen her. 

She tells them that there are more people “like me” out there (presumably half-zombies). Then suddenly, Nam-ra hears something in the distance and says “they’re back” before jumping off the roof of the high rise building they met on, symbolising the supernatural powers the virus has given her. The finale ends there. 

All Of Us Are Dead ending explained

The surprising ending of the series leaves us with more questions than answers, but there are several options we can toy around with. 

Firstly, given that Nam-ra is still alive and seemingly well despite having a variant of the virus, this proves that zombies, or at least, versions of zombies are still circulating in the community. 

As for her friends who find her, their fate could go two ways. Either Nam-ra jumped off the building to save them from the incoming zombies, or (and god forbid if this is true), she might have lured her friends there on purpose in order for her zombie cronies to eat them. Here’s hoping it’s the former…

Another scene in the final episode reveals the police taking the family members of the man who had invented the virus (he was the high school science teacher, hence why the virus originated at the students’ school), for further investigation. This suggests they might be exploring the possibility of creating a vaccine, or, in a sinister twist, perhaps they plan to use the virus as a weapon if the cases continue to spread. 

All of these are legit possibilities, though it’s likely we won’t find out until we get a second season. 

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(Credit: Netflix)

Will there be a second season?

Both Netflix and Chun Sung-il are yet to confirm whether All Of Us Are Dead will get a season two, however going by its quick success (it shot straight to number one on Netflix charts within four days) we have every reason to believe the streaming giant will give it the green light. 

It’s certainly not dissimilar to other Netflix shows that’ve been renewed for new seasons following viral success. Viral Korean series Squid Game was confirmed for a second season in late 2021, with the show’s director,  Hwang Dong-hyuk telling media: “I almost feel like you leave us no choice! But I will say, there will indeed be a second season.” 

Netflix also renewed supernatural disaster series, Manifest despite it previously being cancelled by original production company, NBC. Upon seeing the show’s success when the streaming site bought rights to it, Netflix decided to produce one final season. Fingers crossed All Of Us Are Dead gets the same treatment… 

You can watch All Of Us Are Dead on Netflix Australia. Login or signup here. 

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