Testing humanity through a kid’s game is more entertaining than it looks.
What They Say:
Squid Game is a South Korean survival drama streaming television series written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. The nine-episode series, starring Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo and Wi Ha-joon, tells the story of a group of people who risk their lives in a mysterious survival game with a ₩45.6 billion prize.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
You would be forgiven if you saw the image on Netflix and thought that it would be a somewhat interesting take on Splatoon. However, that is not the case at all, well except for it’s about a game. Hwang Dong-hyuk’s Squid Game demonstrates the agonies and pains of what it takes to be human in a slick take on the battle royal genre. Showing the main character having to fight the negative intentions of humanity, this series truly entertains while driving home a message.
Squid Game starts with a down on his luck character of Seong Gi-hun. He’s divorced, his mom’s diabetes is killing her, his relationship with his daughter is at a low point, and he owes a lot of debt. One day a man offers him a chance to make money by a simple game of ddakji where if he wins he will get money, but for every loss, he gets a slap. Eventually, Seong wins and is given another offer of competing in a larger competition. If he accepts he can win a lot more money and indeed Seong accepts and thus enters the competition.
Squid Game borrows from the battle royale genre. Many characters enter into the fray, and only one is the winner of the game. To advance you have to complete the game’s tasks. Squid Game makes it all the more interesting because it borrows from children’s games from South Korea. For instance we get to see one game that seems like an easy task “Red Light, Green Light”. However, the rules are aggressively enforced to the point where it becomes dangerous to play, and getting caught is not a happy ending.
Simply put, the dangers of playing the game are very demonstrated. A lot of blood is spilled throughout the show. Mameing, headshots, all in more are demonstrated throughout the whole entire show. It makes for some very queasy moments and brutal endings to many people. However, the presentation, while squeamish, has an artistic style to these deaths makes you want to move forward.
That’s what makes Squid Game so enthralling. Unlike with other battle royale genres that throws people into there with no escape the opportunity for people to walk away makes the whole entire premise really tantalizing. We get to see how Seong goes through his life and realizes just how badly they needed this game as his family connections deteriorate as the prize money stacks ups. Other characters whether it was for money, because society already had them dead, among others jump back into the game, and the series even notes these feelings as well. That’s what makes the game so dangerous as it pits the players to recognize society and come to a conclusion about themselves and the game is the only way back to “reentering” society and become “good” again.
That’s what also makes the deaths hurts so much. As you become more entwined with the characters their quirks and how they operate, you get a sense of how brutal this game can be. You get the sense through the director’s eyes the brutality of humanity can come out for selfish gain. One pivotal point is demonstrated halfway through the games where deception and betrayal brutally impact the character’s relationship leading to a sad ending. The scene drives home the point that people’s humanity can be tested and often rejected.
The pains to keep yourself humid but enough is demonstrated in Seong. Seong consistently uses luck, an optimistic view, and compassion to get through the obstacles standing in his way. Yet, you even see that particular aspect of humanity strained at many points. It’s when confronted with the starting loss of his humanity, he snaps back and you see exactly what it takes to remain human, as well as the cost and pains of doing whatever it takes to remain sane in an environment that asks you to reject sanity.
The voice acting in this movie was superb. Everyone for the English dub sounded believable sounded relatable, and truly was able to concretely allow the audience to connect to the players. The very few times it went off seemed more of a convenience of ADR scripting and voice matching rather than poor acting (and even then the plausibility made sense).
The only main issue is the ending. Some people will be disappointed by the lack of resolving clarity and motivations for how the characters end up at the end. The B plot doesn’t feel like a resolution with more answers than questions. The same can be said of the ending for Seong where things are left dangling, although interesting.
In Summary:
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions” – Henry G. Bohn. Squid Game magnifies this quote and absolutely delivers in an enthralling show. From the violence to the characters, each moment had great pacing and great room to breathe a world that feels believable and entertaining to watch. Hwang Dong-hyuk made a show that keeps on delivering on all cylinders and wants to make you watch more and know more. If you can stomach the violence and bits of gore, it truly is a great watch and definitely something to get into.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Netflix
