After having watched a bunch of shows on Netflix, I have finally found something special here: The Squid Game. Upfront I've been a long-time fan of the alternative Korean film market, and this TV series is another gold star from their stables.
In this Season One, what we have is something is & isn't really that new a story, revolving around a bunch of people who ultimately choose to compete in a set of immature games that have deadly consequences, with the winner taking the spoils, a life changing sum of money.
The show is derivative and doesn't really hide that fact, taking elements directly/indirectly from Battle Royale, TXH 1138, Wicker Man, The Running Man, The Dark Knight and even countless survivor zombie films like Night of the Living Dead. You can add the obsession also in life with the countless number of reality TV shows too.
This mish-mash actually works. Why? It's because the set of characters are diverse BUT written in a believable manner which is quite an accomplishment. What we have is characters who are all flawed in some ways and end up having to make decisions on murky morale dilemmas which are life or death for them and/or their families & friends both within the game and not.
There are surreal settings which I won't spoil which will at first humour you but then scare you, as it's dark, violent and bloody.
Sounds crazy but actually it comes together as it's creating a Kafkaesque critique of modern life with a bitter outlook on our free market age and the power of big moneyed powermongers. This creates questions and issues which we all begin to ask ourselves, and you may find yourselves in the same delusions that you will always do what is right. That's clearly not all how life works sadly as you see here.
We have parallel stories of the characters lives outside, and a selfless cop trying to find his long lost brother. This all adds intrigue and greater depth. The only thing I didn't like was that there was a laziness in the writing of the rich faceless Western men. They were all practically old white men (one was of mostly like Chinese origin), and this seemed a bit cliched and narrow minded, and only partly diminished its aims. However, that shouldn't be one to ruin the rest of a great film.
I really enjoyed this series. It's about morale conundrums and a critique of our socities, our worries and those who are less fortunate than ourselves. It will leave you contemplating some questions about life, but it's not a political or revolutionary story. I'd highly recommend it to everyone to watch this.
