MY DAUGHTER IS A ZOMBIE
(director/writer: Pil Gam-Seong; screenwriters: Kim Hyun/based in the book My Daughter is a Zombie by Yun-chang Lee; cinematographer: Kim-tae-soo; editor: Nam Na-yeong; music: Kim Tae-seong; cast: Choi Yoo-ri (Soo-ah), Lee Jung-eun (Bam-sun), Jo-Jung-suk (Lee Jung-hwan), Cho Yeo-jung (Shin Yeon-hwe), Yoon Kyung-ho (Cho Dong-bae, pharmacist); Runtime: 113; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Kwon Mi-kyung; Studio N/Next Entertainment World; 2025-S. Korea-in Korean with English subtitles)
“The B-film parody is a tame zombie flick that’s not funny or scary or well-executed.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The sentimental, melodramatic, family drama, comedy/horror film by South Korean filmmaker Pil Gam-Seong (“Hostage: Missing celebrity”) is set in Seoul, Korea during a worldwide zombie pandemic. It’s based on the graphic novel “My Daughter is a Zombie” by Yun-chang Lee, and is co-written by Kim Hyun.
There’s a zombie virus epidemic in Seoul. The bachelor father Lee Jung-hwan (Jo-Jung-suk) and his adolescent daughter Soo-ah (Choi Yoo-ri) and pet cat flee the city to safety by car. In the escape to dad’s nearby rural seacoast hometown, Soo-ah’s bitten by a zombie. On arrival, dad’s feisty mom Bam-sun (Lee Jung-eun) hides her zombie granddaughter from the armed authorities.
At the zoo, dad was a tiger trainer. He uses that experience to prevent his dance-loving daughter from turning into a full-fledged zombie. Also helping is his bumbling pharmacist friend (Yoon Kyung-ho). Some progress is made by experimenting with different drug solutions.
In Seoul, all the infected zombies are killed by the authorities, leaving the hidden Soo-ah as possibly the last living zombie in South Korea.
Dad’s former lover, Yeon-hwe (Cho Yeo-jung), is a local school teacher, who lost her friend to the epidemic and passionately hates zombies. The two resume their former relationship, even as dad is aware that his teacher friend will turn in his zombie daughter to the authorities if she spots her.
The B-film parody is a tame zombie flick that’s not funny or scary or well-executed.
REVIEWED ON 8/23/2025 GRADE: C
dennisschwartzreviews.com