‘My Daughter Is A Zombie’ Has Fun With The Scary Side Of Parenting

Soo-ah has turned into a zombie but the right parenting might help tame her.

Studio N

Zombies can be scary. Or funny. Or in need of some discipline. My Daughter Is A Zombie is a sweet webtoon-inspired comedy about one devoted dad set on saving his undead daughter. Adapted from Lee Yoon Chang’s webtoon of the same name, the film is also one of 2025’s biggest hits at the Korean box office.

“In Korea, My Daughter is a Zombie opened with the highest first-day box office for any film this year—setting an all-time opening record for Korean comedies—and went on to become the country’s top-grossing film of the year, breaking multiple fastest and highest records,” said Michelle Kwon, CEO of Studio N, which produced the film.

The story is set during an epidemic that turns people into mindless brain munchers and the only solution is to kill everyone that’s infected. Cho Jung-seok plays Jeung-hwan, a dad who worries that his daughter is behaving in unexpected ways. The 15-year-old is surly and hostile. The problem is that Soo-ah (Choi Yoo-ri) is a zombie. She was bitten while they were trying to escape zombies. With the government killing zombies on sight, Jeung-hwan decides to take his daughter out of the city. She may be a zombie, but she’s still his daughter and he wants to keep her alive long enough for someone to develop a cure.

This may sound like a dire scenario, but it’s the set-up for a life-affirming comedy that plays with the notion of what it means to be a parent. As a zookeeper, fond of dancing in front of dangerous animals, Jeung-hwan thinks he can train his daughter not to bite. So, he sets out to tame her. He drives to his picturesque childhood village and enlists the help of his mother, Bam Soon, played endearingly by Lee Jung-eun (Light Shop, Daily Dose of Sunshine and Heavenly Ever After). Bam Soon is one of those no-nonsense grandmas, both adorable and terrifying. Zombie or not, if you’re rude to this grandma, you will pay. It might be just the training a young zombie needs.

Efforts to tame Soo-Ah may be helped and/or hindered by Jeung-won’s childhood friends, Dongbae, played by Yoon Kyung-ho (The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, The Worst of Evil and Sound of Magic) and Yeon-hwa, played by Cho Yeo-Jeong (Parasite, Woman of 9.9 Billion and Behind Every Star). Choo Yo-ri (Mother, Itaewon Class) does an admirable job of playing a zombiefied version of her character and Cho Jung-seok who appeared in (Weak Hero 2, When The Stars Gossip and Resident Playbook), might play the most patient dad you’ll ever meet. Kids do go through rough patches and raising a zombie requires some special parenting skills.

My Daughter Is A Zombie is certainly not the first webtoon adapted into a film. Concrete Utopia (South Korea’s official entry for the 96th Academy Awards) started a webtoon and the mega hit Along With The Gods was also adapted froma webtoon. However, it is the first time Korea’s Studio N, a subsidiary of Webtoon Entertainment, Inc., chose to adapt a webtoon into a film. The decision paid off. The film did well in Korea and is also doing well in North America.

“In North America, after its August 8 release, it surpassed titles like Omniscient Reader and Dark Nuns to become the highest-grossing Korean live-action film released in 2025, marking a strong milestone for Webtoon Entertainment as well,” said Kwon.

Studio N has produced a variety of webtoon-inspired TV dramas, starting with the Netflix creature thriller Sweet Home, the social satire and suspense series The 8 Show, the medical drama The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, the action noir Mercy for None, and the Disney+ period drama Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born, set in Korea’s 1950s all-female opera troupe scene. The 8 Show, The Trauma Code, and Mercy for None each reached #1 on Netflix’s Global Non-English Series.

If the studio produced so many successful webtoon-inspired k-dramas, why make this one into a film?

“When I first read the original webcomic on Webtoon, I was immediately drawn to how entertaining it was and how clear its narrative arc felt,” said Kwon. “The story had a well-defined beginning, middle, and end that perfectly fit a two-hour feature film format. While many webcomics lend themselves to serialized adaptations, this one’s emotional trajectory and pacing felt tailor-made for the big screen. I believed that sharing the laughs and emotional beats in a theater would make them resonate even more deeply with audiences.”

Adapting a webtoon that ran from 2018 to 2020 did require some changes.

“We introduced some unique elements for the film,” said Kwon. “The father, Jeong-hwan, is now a zookeeper, and dance became a key motif. The zookeeper role worked well for showing his efforts to help his zombie daughter Soo-ah adapt to the world. Dance, as a universal language across generations and cultures, became a symbolic way to express their bond—and to suggest that Soo-ah’s memories remained intact despite becoming a zombie. One standout moment is when the father and daughter dance together to “No.1” by BoA, one of Korea’s first-generation k-pop idols—a scene that connects the beginning and end of the film.”

Their household also includes a cat, Meowmeow (original Korean name Aeyong-i) and finding just the right cat required holding cat auditions.

“Meowmeow isn’t just a cute pet—it’s a true member of the family,” said Kwon.” Instead of relying entirely on CGI, we auditioned real cats and filmed 60% of the scenes live, using CGI for the remaining 40% to capture expressions and details. Both the director and I are cat owners, so we could ensure Meowmeow was well cared for on set, which helped keep the character’s warmth and authenticity.”

The film’s storyline may start with a zombie epidemic but Kwon sees it as a story about family and acceptance.

“Using the zombie genre as a narrative device, it invites viewers to see differences not as something to fear, but as something to understand and embrace,” said Kwon. “This message is delivered through emotions that feel natural—never forced. The film lets audiences laugh freely in the beginning, then gradually builds emotional depth so that, by the climax, viewers feel a genuine release and a renewed appreciation for the people close to them.”

My Daughter Is A Zombie is directed by Pil Gam-seong, who directed the series A Bloody Lucky Day and the film Hostage: Missing Celebrity.