What Netflix’s new show Squid Game is about and why everyone is suddenly obsessed with it
“Squid Game” is a South Korean fictional drama in which contestants who are deeply in debt play children’s games in order to win a ton of cash.
The downside is that losers will be killed. Seriously, if a person can’t nail “Red Light, Green Light,” they are totally a goner. Oh, and once you are in the game, quitting also has deadly consequences.
If you can stomach the events of the first episode, what follows is a tightly written horror thriller that has captivated viewers. The nine-part series is the first Korean show to reach the top spot on the streaming platform in the US, and is currently number one in the UK. Its success won’t come as a surprise to a generation of viewers who got hooked on murderous dystopian series The Hunger Games and cult favourite Battle Royale. But Squid Game’s backdrop is South Korea’s present-day, very real wealth inequality.
Its closest comparison is another South Korean drama, 2019’s Oscar-winning, zeitgeist-capturing Parasite, where the country’s class divides led to a bloody conclusion. Like that film, the show’s analogy is sometimes overdone particularly when the game’s cliche-heavy spectators are introduced –but it’s an instantly hooky premise. Yes, the games are terrifying but how much worse are they than the half-lives of those living in interminable debt?
Most smartly, Squid Game taps into a cultural obsession with gameshows. The players are being watched, but the viewer is only one step removed, and it’s impossible not to put yourselves in their shoes. An episode of backstories makes it clear that anyone can fall into debt through bad luck, while the visuals are full of familiar touchstones. There are maze-like corridors, tinkling soundtracks and oversized slides, like the world’s worst children’s party. Within this world, writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk sets up compelling dilemmas – would you betray your friend to escape death? – and lets them play out in agonising stretches.
Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos said, “Squid Game will definitely be our biggest non-English language show in the world, for sure,” he said at the Code conference in Los Angeles. He added that there’s “a very good chance it’s going to be our biggest show ever.
