Kingdom is a Netflix original Korean drama. It is a zombie story that’s set during Joseon Era.
The story revolves around the crowned Prince Lee Chang (Ju Ji Hoon), who believes that there was something wrong with his father. He wanted to see his father but the Queen (Kim Hye Jun) forbids him. Being stopped by the Queen was not enough reason for him to give up on his father. One night he sneaked into the king’s quarters and he was surprised by the foul smell and animal-like sounds that he has encountered. Before meeting his father the palace guard discovered him and he was escorted out of the King’s Quarters. And there’s nothing he can do because Cho Hak Joo (Ryoo Seung Ryong) is so powerful that he had the King’s Quarters locked down with guards. Rumors spread around the Kingdom that the King was already dead.
In his search for answers, he started looking for the King’s personal physician Lee Seung Hui to get some answers. Along with his personal body guard Moo Young (Kim Sang Ho) they started their journey to the Physician’s clinic in the outskirts of Dongnae. Upon their arrival, they were in shock at the state that the clinic was in. There were dead bodies found under the buildings and the place was crumbling down. Later they founda medical staff member Seobi (Bae Doo Na) who told them that the bodies they found we’re not actually dead, instead those bodies comes back to life during the night to look for flesh.
After witnessing how the dead bodies comes to life and what they do to people. Prince Chang Lee along with help of nurse Seobi and the mysterious Young Shin (Kim Sung Kyu) and his body guard Moo Young try to find a cure for the unknown epidemic as they fight for their life to survive.
My Thoughts:
The first time I saw the title I thought that it would be another historical drama about fighting for the throne. I was surprised at how unique and creative the story was written. For any Kingdom, the seat for the throne is something people fight for, no matter what the cause may be. The power that seat gives is enough for people to commit treason and even become murderers.
I was also surprised by the creativity of the plot. Who would’ve thought that zombies can exist during Joseon Era? Using old weapons and no means of modern transportation, how can they survive? This is definitely another level from Train To Busan.
There’s a lot of blood and sword fighting but it will definitely be worth it. The fight for survival is never easy but not impossible.
Will they find a cure before the zombies get them?
You can watch both season 1 and season 2 of Kingdom through Netflix