If you haven't heard about Squid Game at this point, I really don't know where you could possibly be living. It's been on Netflix since last month and would most likely be Netflix's most viewed series in a while. It stars Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-jun and is written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk.
Squid Game is a Korean thriller series about a group of people playing children's games for a prize. These people are carefully selected by the game organizers and are invited to play the game when they seem to be in really bad places financially. One of the main characters Gi-Hun finds himself neck-deep in debt, unable to take care of his mum and daughter and decides to join in the game.
The other main characters all have huge debts also and are in a tight corner one way or the other. The purpose for the games has them confused but the huge prize money seems to be a valid reason to play. There are 456 players and for each player eliminated, 100 million Won is added to a giant piggy bank making the total winner take home a whopping sum of 45.6 billion Won.
Now that's a lot of money to play for and it all looks funny until they realize this game is more than a children's game. It takes a turn when they realize they're not only playing for the money but playing to stay alive.
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this series because I never expected something so simple to get that complicated. People had been talking about it so much so of course I had expectations but nothing prepared me for the first blood bath in the pilot episode. The switch to gory and bloody had my heart racing and hoping it would stop even though I was thoroughly enjoying it.
My first observation with this show is how they didn't need to do too much. The story was solid enough to capture viewers' attention and no over-the-top effects were needed.
I have a lot of favorite scenes but I wouldn't want to say them because I think that would mean giving spoilers.
My favorite of the six games is the very first one because that was the beginning of the chaos and I like the spooky red light/green light tune that follows it.
I find Korean shows really entertaining but they're never my first selection. Watching Squid Game reminds me that Korean shows and movies have so much range and maybe I should watch them more. I learned that there are two popular Korean actors in this series and they're not even the poster boys yet the show is such a big deal.
Funny how the show has been in the works for over 10 years and got rejected by producers only to finally come to life and be a hit.
The show is in Korean and subtitled in English. I know most of the conversations were lost in translation but still, it wasn't bad at all.
There are many lessons to be learned, like how you shouldn't be too trusting because people are willing to kill you if that's what it takes to get them to the top.
The show really taps into the class divide in Korea and how the rich prey on the poor, infact word on the streets say it was meant to depict America's capitalism on the rest on the world but that's not my cup of tea today.
What's crazy about Squid Game is that if it were real life, there are people who wouldn't think twice about playing. If people can trek through the desert to get to Europe for a better life all the way from Africa, I don't see what's stopping them from playing this game.
Not a satisfying end
I know I've been raving about this show but I wasn't crazy about how it ended. The scene where Gi-hun was trying to find out why the game was created got tiring because it was too long. Maybe if I understood the actual language it would have been less of a drag but yeah, that scene was unnecessarily long.
I'm sure a lot of people who have watched the show have the same grievance towards Gi-hun for that stunt he pulled at the end but who knows, it could mean a second season and I really don't mind.
You should watch this movie if you haven't because it's totally worth the hype and very entertaining. You can watch it here on Netflix.