I discovered this series on Tiktok. Surprisingly it wasn’t something that was on my radar, mainly because of the name of the show, but watching it I’m really glad I did find it because it’s something that’s completely up my street.

Squid Game is set in South Korea and follows a group of people who are in trouble in their lives, mostly to do with money. They come together at this game where they think they are just going to be playing each other for money, however it turns out that when you lose in the game you lose in real life and die, and we slowly see these characters realise what is happening and what they can do about it.

I really enjoyed the start of the series because you got to see them leave. They decide that they don’t want to play the game anymore so they get to go home but then they realise that home was so much worse than what they had to experience in the game. They almost needed that money, they needed that game to be able to survive, and so most of them come back to play this game once more because death was better than what was waiting outside for them if they didn’t have money.

I also enjoyed this part because it then included the police into it and you got to see the other side. So we got to see the main character be in the Squid Game and be in the contest and see how he deals with that, but then we also got to see a police officer impersonate the people that were running the games and see the backside of everything, including dodgy dealings with human body parts being sold under the radar, and working out who is in fact behind all of this.

What I loved about this show is that it didn’t hold back. When you’re in the games and people were dying you got to see them die, it was very bloody, very gory and so intricate and clever. Each of the games were really fascinating although a bit predictable that most of them ended with gunshots. I would’ve liked more experimental deaths like the guillotine in the tug-of-war game, that was really interesting because it was being used in a way that you wouldn’t normally use it, and people died in a way that you wouldn’t normally see. When they’re doing a little playground game and they just get shot in the head when they lose it’s a bit lacklustre despite the gore being seen on screen. But despite that I did really enjoy this and they didn’t hold back on showing you just how bad it was and what these people were going through, you really felt like you were part of the game yourself.

This show really took its time in perfecting everything from the games to the characters and you really got to understand it all. The fact you started off with one main character who slowly built out the group and then once all the group were on the same level with each other you never knew who was going to die next, who was going to be the one to lose, that was really fascinating because it kept the excitement and the tenseness of the whole ordeal up and made you keep watching because you constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next.

There is a twist in the show that I will not spoil but that twist was really clever and I really enjoyed it. Looking at Twitter threads about it they really did sprinkle some interesting moments into the show to make you start to wonder what is really going on and who is really in charge. I really enjoyed that add-on, and while I do feel there may be a second season coming for the show because it was so enjoyed by audiences, I do feel the way they wrapped it up could end it forever and I’d be happy with that.

I definitely feel the reason this show is popular is that it’s a new generation becoming aware of Battle Royale type media. So in my generation I had The Hunger Games and Maze Runner. In my parents’ generation they had the Cube, we even had Saw, there were so many different gory gameshows being shown that I’m glad this trend is continuing because it’s so fun to watch. If you enjoy this but you’re not a huge fan of all the gore I definitely recommend a film called Circle which has a similar premise but a lot more talking and a lot less gore, and it is really psychological and makes you think about what you would do in that situation.

I highly, highly recommend Squid Game if you haven’t watched it. It’s an absolutely fantastic show that you can easily binge watch over a weekend, it draws you in from the start and you really begin to care about the characters that you’re watching and what they’re going through, but you also wonder what you would do in that situation. And once we knew who won the game and who got all the money which equals out to millions of pounds you have to think what would you do with that money? And how can you go on living knowing that this is happening and you have benefited from it? The survivors guilt must be insane.

If you have seen Squid Game let me know what you think below.

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding