If you weren't ready to come down from your The Last of Us high and you're still patiently waiting for season two of All of Us Are Dead, then Netflix's latest show Zombieverse might just be the answer to all of your undead prayers.
A group of unsuspecting people gather behind the scenes on the set of a reality dating show 'Love Hunters' ready to watch its contestants embark on a quest for love only to find themselves on a less-amorous kind of adventure.
Panic erupts amongst the group behind the set when a kiss from one of the 'Love Hunters' contestants turns into her devouring her mate. Blood jets out from the large wound on the side of the bitten man's neck and a feral-looking 'Love Hunter' raises her head looking for her next meal.
The onlookers are forced to run into the street and it all feels very reminiscent of The Last of Us' Joel (Pedro Pascal), Sarah (Nico Parker) and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) in the early days of the outbreak running amongst the scattered people in the street in sheer chaos.
But wait, Zombieverse is supposed to be a reality show – so what the heck is going on?
Is Zombieverse real?
Well of course not, but those blood-curdling screams of fear are. Zombieverse is a weird and wonderful mash-up of reality TV-meets-drama-meets-social experiment.
This unscripted show throws its contestants in the midst of a zombie apocalypse simulation taking place in Seoul. It's all about survival and they must react to the situation at hand, giving us, the viewers, the opportunity to observe the behaviour of the players when placed in a tense, 'life-threatening' situation.
Think of it as the love child of All of Us Are Dead and Big Brother.
Are the contestants on Zombieverse actors?
Some of them are – most of them are celebrities. The lucky players forced to evade the flesh-eaters are as follows:
• Sweet Home actress Lee Si-young
• Comedian Park Na-rae
• YouTuber Jonathan Yiombi
• Former pitcher for the Doosan Bears Yoo Hee-kwan
• TV celebrity Ro Hong-chul
• Rapper and TV personality DinDin (aka Lim Cheol)
• Japanese singer and former member of 7+ME LINK Fukutomi Tsuki
• YouTuber Patricia Yiombi
• YouTuber and vlogger Kim Jin-young/Dex
• Kkwachu Hyung
Despite being filled to the brim with celebrities, Zombieverse is (for the most part) not fictionalised. As mentioned above, the events taking place are set up and staged but the contestants' reactions to them are not.
How does Zombieverse work?
It's people versus zombies in the truest way possible. If you've ever wondered how you'd fare in a zombie apocalypse, this is the closest you'll probably get to finding out: through secondhand experience in this bonkers game show.
Zombieverse dumps the contestants in the early days of a zombie outbreak and watches how they navigate the changing world. They must either work together or go it alone as they seek the basic necessities to survive (water, food and shelter).
Throughout the episodes they will be made to complete tasks but, should they get 'bitten', they will be cast out from the group.
As an added dose of realism, the creative team from Zombieverse have employed the art team from All of Us Are Dead and the zombie action choreographer from Kingdom to work behind the scenes. Talk about pulling out all the stops to ensure an epic atmosphere of fright and gore.
The official synopsis is as follows: "Finding their way around a new type of zombie universe, Zombieverse, participants must complete quests to survive in Seoul, which has been turned into a zombie world.
"Their endeavours to survive until the end by completing quests such as looking for food, transportation, or a safe haven; or deciding whether to save a colleague who has been infected by a zombie, will keep viewers at the edge of their seats."
We're glued to the screen already.
All episodes of Zombieverse are available to stream now on Netflix.
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
