The two seasons of the Netflix series hit show Kingdom, released in 2019 and then in 2020, combined with a related prequel film in the same universe, 2021's Kingdom: Ashin of the North, are a fantastic mix of Medieval political drama and zombie terror.

Kingdom is an intelligent series about clans battling each other for hundreds of years as well as fighting against Japanese invaders. The Kingdom is split into several distinct factions, and when rumors spread that the King himself was killed, there is a general uproar, and it is hard to determine who is an ally and who is a foe. There are rival factions and rival heirs to the throne. As a result, this elegant period piece with brilliant costumes, architecture, set designs, and more, appears to be a very great translation of horror into art.

Because of the fierceness of the tribes, and because males are raised to be warriors, this series has one amazing samurai battle after another, and there is no lack of blood that sprays out at every decapitation, stabbing, shooting, cutting off of limbs, and every death in battle. In short, it is a great, exciting samurai show that would definitely appeal to fans of traditional period piece drama, samurai films, and horror movies, though it's not for the faint of heart, containing buckets of blood and infanticide, which was done so that the evil Queen would inherit the throne to the Kingdom, something determined by bloodlines.

The Story of Kingdom on Netflix

Kingdom
Netflix

The series begins when the King dies of smallpox. The royal physician and nurse (including Seo-bi, wonderfully played by Bae Donna from Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, The Host, Netflix’s The Silent Sea, and more) travels into dangerous, no-man’s land territory. They go to a place where everyone is a potential target and violence and madness is everywhere, in order to obtain what she calls a “resurrection flower,” which can bring the dead back to the living. However, the human part of them is gone, and all that remains is a frothing, screaming, cannibalistic flesh-eating zombie.

The Queen, who is evil and mad, keeps her husband around, even though he is a zombie, so that they can conceive a child who would be heir to the throne. She secretly feeds him innocent villagers and has him caged. When it is confirmed the king had been killed, there is much political debate about whom the future ruler should be.

Kingdom
Netflix

The queen has an obligation to provide a male heir to ascend the throne, or else it will go to the noble Lee Chang (the son of the King and one of his concubines), the crown prince of the medieval city of Joseon. He is a man waging a war for his rightful place as the new King, as well as waging a war against an army of undead zombies, who become weaponized. In other words, the poorer citizens are deliberately infected with the zombie virus and then sent to destroy the enemy, a strategy that had allowed a small group of citizens to fend off a massive Japanese invasion.

The story mainly centers on Lee Chang after his father becomes one of the first zombies. In a battle, Lee Chang decapitates his zombified father, which is a divisive issue, but it allows us to see he has good intentions, destroying all zombies (even his own father), in the name of saving his kingdom. He worries about making a mistake, especially with the wars, the political situation, the fight for who would replace the King, and the dilemma of how best to help his people, who are suffering from food shortages and zombie attacks.

The Incredible Action and Horror of the Kingdom Series

The zombies in Kingdom
Netflix

There's also, of course, many battles featuring dozens of blood-splattered warriors fighting to support one leader or another. There is treachery, deception, and the use of violence against men, women, and children. Meanwhile, they are also battling the undead hordes who can be destroyed by fire and immersion in water. The infected have worms coursing through their bodies, keeping them infected, but when they are plunged into water the worms escape and the zombies become human again.

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There are all so many elements at play — all the complicated political bloodlines, violence, civil wars, constant battles, infighting over territory, and the gathering of information, plus horrific zombies that are just as terrifying and dangerous as any zombies we have ever seen before; the result is one amazing, exciting, and quite grim show.

It was the mixture of a period piece from centuries ago (at a time filled with rebellion, war, killing, samurai, and Kings) with violent flesh-chomping zombie chaos, that makes Kingdom so unique, and makes it such a wonderful and inventive show to watch. Kingdom is Netflix’s first original Korean series, and they wisely backed a show filled with violence, intrigue, and the supernatural. In many ways it is similar to Game of Thrones.

Kingdom is a Unique Zombie Period TV Show

Bloody samurai in Kingdom
Netflix

For some reason, all the great new zombie features are coming out of Asia, such as the film The Sadness, the show All of Us Are Dead, and Train to Busan. All these films take place in the modern world, whereas in Kingdom we get a look at a city which is hundreds of years old, yet they are still fighting the zombies the whole time. Kingdom takes place at a time when different clans were constantly at war with each other and there existed the samurai, who have trained their whole lives in the art of war. Life was a series of battles, which makes this era perfect for the zombie genre.

Kingdom: Ashin of the North is different in that it focuses almost exclusively on a thrilling revenge, and it lacks the political issues like treason found in the series. Ashin is a young girl who comes home one day to find that her entire extended family has been brutally butchered to death and then left out for her to find. She breaks down, then vows revenge on anyone involved in the massacre. We see her as she ages from a little girl to a grown woman, always training herself to be the ultimate warrior, as she hunts down the killers of her family, destroying them all with no mercy. If you want to watch the shows in chronological order, then start with this film.

Both the second season of the series and the film have great, tragic endings. Although it seems as though the series has come to an end, we can always hope for the possibility of another film in the world of Kingdom.