#Alive (2020) [Film Review]

#Alive; or, An Ode to Self-isolation
     I should have gone shopping, just like you told me, mom!
Korean cinema is on the roll with zombie movies. After Train to Busan movies and Kingdom drama, we now get #Alive, a survival thriller directed by Cho Il Hyung and starring Yoo Ah In and Park Shin Hye in the leading roles.

Release Info

Directed by: Cho Il Hyung Starring: Yoo Ah In, Park Shin Hye

Language: Korean Original Title: #살아있다 Runtime: 98 min

Synopsis
Oh Joon Woo (Yoo Ah In) is a typical Korean gamer with high-tech stuff and too much time on his hands. He lives with his parents and sister. One day, he wakes up and finds a note left by his mother. When he turns on the TV, news anchors are talking about the outbreak of an unknown virus. All of a sudden, Oh Joon Woo’s apartment complex turns into chaos as other inhabitants transform into vicious monsters and start attacking each other. Stranded in an apartment, Oh Joon Woo gradually loses hope for rescue. Suddenly, he discovers that he is not the only survivor...

Running Out of Time
I have heard about #Alive movie a couple of months ago, when reading the box office statistics from the Asian market. On top of that, many users on MDL eagerly shared their thoughts on the film. Needless to say, I had to check this one out, especially in view of the fact that Peninsula (2020) came out just recently.

To be honest, I was surprised at how good this movie is. It starts in a low-key way, but the suspense build up just kept me glued to the TV screen. One could argue that zombie flicks are too clichéd and cheesy, but #Alive provides a much needed breath of fresh air, harking back to such classics about lone survivors as The Last Man on Earth (1964) and The Omega Man (1971).

All the more I cannot understand the bad rap this movie gets. People write in their reviews that it is boring, unrealistic, and too short. What? Have we seen the same movie? Of course, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I totally understand that people have their own preferences and attention spans, but the movie (with its clever screenplay and nicely done effects) certainly got my blood pumping.

The things I definitely have to praise are the following: great zombie design (way more vivid than in Train to Busan), catchy synthwave music score, out of the blue jump scares, and great performances of the main leads. Yoo Ah In and Park Shin Hye, who totally nailed it as people trying to escape from the zombie hellhole.

However, there were about two moments in the entire film which seemed a bit too hokey to me. Not getting into the spoilers area, allow me to say that at times the hero is protected by nothing more than plot armour. In my opinion, this is the only disadvantage of #Alive.

Recommendations
If you like zombie horrors, and (most importantly), if you like Yoo Ah In, then I recommend the film. Watching it has been an invigorating experience. I strongly hope that director Cho Il-hyung and writer Matt Naylor will come up with more exciting stuff in the future.
Overall score: 8/10

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