Alive (2020 film)
Alive (2020 film)
| Alive | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Hangul | 살아있다 |
| Hanja | 活著 |
| Revised Romanization | Saraitda |
| Directed by | Cho Il-hyung |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | Alone by Matt Naylor |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Tae-seong Kim |
| Cinematography | Won-ho Son |
| Edited by | Min-kyeong Shin |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | Lotte Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Box office | USD$14.2 million[1] |
#Alive (Korean: #살아있다; RR: #Saraitda) is a 2020 South Korean zombie film directed by Cho Il-hyung.[2] Starring Yoo Ah-in and Park Shin-hye, it is based on the 2019 script Alone by Matt Naylor, who co-adapted his script with Cho. The film revolves around a video game live streamer's struggle for survival as he is forced to stay alone at his apartment in Seoul during a zombie apocalypse. It was released in South Korea on June 24, 2020,[3][4][5][6][7] and globally via Netflix on September 8, 2020.[8]
Plot
Oh Joon-woo, who lives with his parents and sister in an apartment complex, spends his days video game live streaming. While his family is out, the news reports that a mysterious rapidly-spreading disease is causing its victims to attack and eat uninfected people, and the government has lost control. From his balcony, Joon-woo sees his neighbours fleeing or attacking one another. He goes to check the hallway, but a neighbour barges in and succumbs to infection. Joon-woo barely manages to push him out and lock the door. He then receives messages from his parents telling him that they are safe.
Joon-woo barricades himself inside and posts a rescue request on social media. No help comes. Within days, the neighbourhood is overrun with infected. Though the emergency power stays on, Joon-woo gradually loses access to running water, internet service, and phone networks. He watches a policewoman attempt to escape the complex, but she is overwhelmed and infected. An infected man breaks into his apartment, but Joon-Woo manages to bait it into falling off his balcony. When his food and water runs low, he begins drinking from his father's liquor cabinet. As he hallucinates about his family, his phone network is restored momentarily, and he receives a voicemail from his family recording their last moments.
Driven by grief, he prepares to hang himself, but stops when he is flashed by a laser pointer's beam from Kim Yoo-bin, another survivor living in the apartment opposite of his balcony. They begin signalling to each other daily. Seeing that Joon-woo is hungry, Yoo-bin connects their apartments with a homemade zip line and sends him food. An infected man manipulates the zip line, causing Yoo-bin's table to fly and knock her out. The infected man climbs up the string to her apartment, but Joon-woo distracts it with his flying drone long enough for Yoo-bin to wake up and kill it.
Joon-woo decides to search for supplies, finding food, clothing, and walkie-talkies in his neighbour's unit. He sends a walkie-talkie to Yoo-bin, and the two begin to bond. The infected hordes become agitated, and Yoo-bin knocks over some furniture while trying to hide. The sound causes a group to converge on her apartment, and Joon-woo distracts them by calling an adjacent unit's landline. Realizing that they will die if they stay put, the pair rappel from their balconies, recover the policewoman's revolver, and fight their way to the 8th floor of Joon-woo's apartment together, determining that the floor is safe. The horde finds them, but a stranger emerges from his apartment and saves the pair.
In the stranger's home, the pair accepts his food, which has been drugged. The stranger cuffs the inebriated pair, then tries to feed Yoo-bin to his infected wife. Yoo-bin is able to wrap a bag over the infected wife's head, then releases the zombie upon her husband. She shoots them both with the revolver, but the gunshots attract the infected. Yoo-bin asks Joon-woo to mercy-kill her; however, Joon-woo hears helicopters outside. The pair fight their way to the rooftop, chased by the infected. Just as they are about to be overwhelmed, an army helicopter shoots the horde down and the pair are flown off to safety. A voiceover by an anchorman explains that wireless networks are being restored and the military has begun rescuing survivors who made social media posts.
Cast
- Yoo Ah-in as Oh Joon-woo, a gamer who struggles to survive a zombie outbreak. He almost hangs himself after hearing his family killed by zombies, but he finds new hope after knowing there is another survivor called Yoo-bin.
- Park Shin-hye as Kim Yoo-bin, a mysterious lady who helps Joon-woo survive. She frequently kills zombies who trespass her house using her hand axe and booby-trapped door.
- Lee Hyun-wook as Lee Sang-chul, the infected tenant whom Joon-woo lets in.
- Oh Hye-won as the policewoman who is killed by the infected.
- Jeon Bae-soo as a masked man who saves Joon-woo and Yoo-bin but wants to feed them to his zombified wife.
- Lee Chae-kyung as the zombified wife of the masked man
Production
Development
#Alive is a zombie thriller[9] based on the original script "#Alone" of Hollywood screenwriter Matt Naylor, who worked on the American documentary series Small Business Revolution: Main Street and the short film What It’s Like. Director Cho Il-hyung (also known as Il Cho) and Naylor adapted the screenplay together for the Korean market.[10][3] In 2019, ZIP Cinema and U.S producer, Perspective Pictures, joined the production with Lotte Entertainment distributing the film.
Casting
On July 11, 2019, Yoo Ah-in and Park Shin-hye joined the cast,[11] followed by Lee Hyun-wook on September 16.[12] The read-through of the script occurred on September 27, 2019.
Filming
Principal photography began on October 1, 2019. Filming took place in Gunsan and wrapped up on December 12, 2019.[13]
Release
The film was released in South Korea on June 24, 2020.[14][15][16] In August 2020, Netflix acquired the international distribution rights to the film, which was later released worldwide on September 8, 2020.[17][8]
Marketing
An Instagram account for Oh Joon-woo was created to promote the film.[18]
Reception
Box office
On its opening day in South Korea, #Alive drew in a total of 204,071 viewers and took 62% of the box office, marking the highest first-day viewership of any film since February 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19 in South Korea.[19][20][21] It held the highest number of first-day admissions next to The Man Standing Next.[22][23]
On the fifth day of its release, #Alive surpassed 1 million admissions, and during the first weekend of its release, it garnered 1,001,802 viewers, securing the first place at the box office for its first weekend. It became the first film to surpass 1 million since February 2020.[24] It also ranked first at the box office for the first three weekends, and has achieved over 1,903,703 admissions in South Korea as of October 18, 2020.[25][26][27]
The film premiered on Netflix on 8 September 2020, and two days after release, it achieved global first place on the platform. #Alive topped the Netflix daily chart in 35 countries, including the United States, France, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Australia, Pakistan, and Canada. It became the first Korean film to top Netflix Movies Worldwide chart.[28][29]
Critical response
On Korean review aggregator Naver Movie Database, the film holds an approval rating of 7.09 from critic reviews.[30] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% and an average rating of 6.59/10, based on 21 reviews.[31]
Marian Phillips from Screen Rant wrote, "#Alive accurately captures the same panic, fear, uncertainty, loneliness, and isolation experienced by many during the pandemic's early days. [...] By taking a concept unfamiliar to the sub-genre, #Alive transforms how zombie movies can be handled as well as providing an exploration of the different circumstances individuals find themselves when dealing with the apocalypse."[32] Anthony Kao from Cinema Escapist suggested, "#Alive is an entertaining zombie flick that seems tailor-made for the time of coronavirus. [...] On top of its empathetic and socially relevant depiction of the Korean millennial condition, #Alive presents a narrative that feels unpretentious and accessibly entertaining."[33] The New York Times' Elisabeth Vincentelli concluded, "#Alive is a nifty little thriller that proves that you can always find signs of life in the most undead of genres. And the finale, far-fetched as it is, suggests that even a society atomized by isolation can find a connection".[34]
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