2 Years Later, Netflix’s 3-Part Zombie Thriller Is Still One Of Its Best Horror Shows

One of the best zombie thriller shows ever made came from Netflix in 2020, and the South Korean series succeeded in part because the show diverged from the usual tropes associated with the genre. Since the outsized success of AMC’s The Walking Dead back in 2010, zombie shows have never been a rarity on TV or streaming services. From hits like Z Nation and Black Summer to flops like Netflix’s Resident Evil show or the failed Zombieland TV spinoff, the shambling undead are a small-screen staple.

Although Netflix’s South Korean zombie drama All of Us Are Dead offered viewers one of the best takes on the sub-genre ever, this is not the only notable zombie story to come from the nation in the last decade. Before All of Us Are Dead, the similarly propulsive, tragic action horror movie Train to Busan won over critics and mainstream audiences alike in 2016. Meanwhile, in 2020, Netflix’s underrated Sweet Home took elements of the classic zombie story and altered the ingredients to give horror fans a truly fresh and original experience.

Sweet Home Helped Redefine The Zombie TV Show Genre

Sweet Home opens with the revelation that its teenage protagonist, Song Kang’s Cha Hyun-su, has lost his entire family in a tragic car accident. Cha Hyun-su’s life goes from bad to worse when his home in the dilapidated, under-resourced Green Home apartment complex is besieged by bizarre, monstrous creatures. So far, so Evil Dead Rise or Dèmoni 2, as the show takes its high-rise setting and uses it to turn Sweet Home into a horror version of The Raid wherein Cha Hyun-su must survive various threats on various floors of this death trap.

However, in a fun twist on the typical zombie outbreak story, Sweet Home soon reveals its infected monsters aren’t zombies at all, in the traditional sense. Most zombie stories focus on recently dead people who return to life hungry to feast on the living, or living people infected with a disease that makes them into murderous monsters. The latter, more recent style can be seen in 28 Days Later movies, 2004’s Dawn of the Dead remake, or 2021’s jaw-droppingly dark Taiwanese horror The Sadness.

Sweet Home’s Story Blends Dark Fantasy With Zombie Horror

In contrast, Sweet Home’s monsters are based on what each specific victim desires most, allowing the show to create all manner of inventive, bizarre, and utterly original creature designs. Sweet Home’s fresh take on the basic zombie mythos becomes even more surprising when the show’s hero learns the shocking truth behind the monstrous transformations near the end of season 1, a revelation that shifts the genre and tone of the series going forward.

Without giving away anything too specific, suffice it to say that Sweet Home is as much of a dark fantasy superhero show as it is a traditional zombie horror series, and it is this unpredictable blend of genres that makes the show so addictive. Where many shows rely on their main characters evading the supernatural threat to provide the series with its narrative thrust, Sweet Home instead sees its characters embrace the threat of the creatures, and the show becomes something completely new halfway through its run.

Dark, daring, and blackly funny in its own offbeat way, Sweet Home is a thoroughly original zombie show that must be seen to be believed. While the Netflix hit’s blend of fantasy elements, outright horror and gore, and character drama won’t be for everyone, the series is still a must-watch for anyone who has ever wanted a zombie show that tried something truly new. Gruesome and inventive, Netflix’s Sweet Home is a three-season zombie classic with enough subversive twists to keep even the savviest horror fans guessing.

Release Date

2020 – 2024-00-00

Directors

Lee Eung-bok, Jang Young-woo, Park So-hyun

Writers

Hong So-ri, Kim Hyung-min, Park So-jung

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