The Netflix K-drama has demonstrated cross-cultural success through stunning visuals, excellent acting, and a solid if predictable plot
Note: This review contains mild spoilers for Squid Game.
After being subjected to the question of “Have you watched Squid Game?” by nearly all of my friends, I gave in and finally watched the K-drama that the Internet has not stopped talking about. Squid Game launched on Netflix on September 17, and since then, it has become a global phenomenon.
The horror drama, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, follows a group of down-on-their-luck and debt-ridden contestants who all agree to partake in a series of mystery games for a chance to win a prize of 45.6 billion won. Seong Gi-hun, a gambling addict living with his elderly mother and struggling to support his daughter, is the first of the players introduced. He encounters a man in a subway station who invites him to play a traditional Korean game, ddakji, in exchange for money. When Gi-hun eventually wins, the mysterious stranger gives him a business card. Calling the number on the card results in Gi-hun being drugged and kidnapped in a van, and when he wakes up, he’s been designated “Player 456” and in a strange warehouse with 455 other players. All are from different walks of life, but share one major similarity: Being deeply in debt and desperate for a way to make more money.
Shortly after, the bright pink, masked staff operating the mysterious contest reveal themselves and that the contestants will be playing popular children’s games, starting with Red Light, Green Light. The show expertly uses a colourful, bright setting to distract from and hide what will ultimately happen. As the contestants enter the seemingly innocuous site of the first game—a sandy playground with a bright blue sky—nothing seems out of the ordinary. We’re also introduced to the other main characters: an old man with a brain tumour, a Pakistani factory worker, a North Korean defector, and Gi-hun’s old friend who was supposed to have become rich and successful after graduating from Seoul National University.
Shortly after Red Light, Green Light begins, however, the true nature of the games is revealed in a jarring, horrifying scene that quickly changes the tone of the show. Squid Game sets a quick pace after that, as the stakes escalate and the main characters must go to increasingly desperate lengths to stay alive and win the money.
The end result is somewhat predictable and which characters survive until the end is not surprising. The weakness of Squid Game is in its plot. But at the same time, the show expertly builds tension and suspense over what the next game will be or who will die next. The characters of Squid Game are also memorable and the cast does an excellent job. The production and set design is amazing, and the show delivers a plethora of both emotional and funny moments amidst the violence.
Squid Game is not the first piece of media to feature games where characters must narrowly avoid death as a metaphor for capitalism, and it can be argued that it isn’t the best piece of media to do so either. There’s also some irony in Squid Game helping to propel Netflix’s earnings to new heights, drawing in millions of new subscribers, that perhaps undermines its anti-capitalist message. Squid Game treads familiar ground, which is probably why it can start to lag, especially around the middle episodes. It starts to feel like every episode is the same, just with a different game. Time likely could have been better spent delving further into the pasts of the characters or the story behind the games themselves. Plots that don’t revolve around the games also seem to drag on for longer than they should, such as the mystery behind one of the character’s, Hwang Jun-ho’s, brother. When the twist was finally revealed, I felt more relieved and frustrated than anything else.
Perhaps the plot of Squid Game can be predictable and cliche, but the show hits its emotional beats, features strong performances from its cast, and has enough twists and turns to keep you interested for nine episodes. And if nothing else, Squid Game gave us more of the handsome Gong Yoo, which should always be enough to make a show worthwhile.