movie review of squid game

an image, when javascript is unavailable

‘Squid Game’ Review: Netflix’s Global Hit Wants to Condemn Violence While Reveling in It

By Daniel D'Addario

Daniel D'Addario

Chief TV Critic

‘Hacks’ Is Back: Why Jean Smart’s Health Crisis and a 10-Month Delay Couldn’t Slow Down TV’s Edgiest Comedy 3 days ago
‘Sex and the City’ on Netflix: What the Ultimate Period Piece Might Mean to a Gen Z Audience 5 days ago
‘An Enemy of the People’ Review: An Actorly, Broadway Face-Off Between Jeremy Strong and Michael Imperioli 3 weeks ago

This review contains spoilers for the plot and ending of “ Squid Game .”

To American viewers, “Squid Game” may seem to have emerged from nowhere. But it is a pretty unsurprising smash hit.

The show, which Netflix chief Ted Sarandos has said is on track to become Netflix’s most-watched series ever, has dominated charts the world over, serving as striking proof positive of the streamer’s global strategy. And while it’s cheering that quite so many people are curious about a project that they’re watching with subtitles (or dubbed), little feels novel about people flocking to a project that allows them to have it both ways.

“Squid Game,” created by Hwang Dong-hyuk , depicts a competition with some 456 entrants, in which boundless wealth is made available to whomever survives a brutal gauntlet of fatal events. These stages are borrowed from children’s playground activities, lending a certain simple irony to just how brutal they become: More than half of the competitors are gunned down, for instance, in the first stage, a version of “Red Light, Green Light” in which those who move after “Red Light” are gunned down.

This sees more than half the competition — some 200-plus people — shot down, and “Squid Game” is hardly shy about showing viscera. The violence is at once eerily intimate and impersonal: While there’s a brutal frankness to the way the competitors’ lives are cut short, the shooters are masked game employees (or, in the case of Red Light, Green Light, a robotic doll). Death comes doled out by random functionaries, about whom we know significantly less than about the game’s players. What we gradually learn, through the device of a detective who’s broken into the system, is that they are utterly bought-in, obeying rules of their own and believing rigidly in a game they’ve worked to present with a certain baroque innocence.

This fact — that both gameplayers and gamemakers are bound by need and by a strange loyalty to the rhythms of the competition — has clean, uncomplicated lines. It’s structurally sound and seems, at a glance, clever. So does the show’s structure in its early going, as surviving players are allowed the opportunity to leave after the first bloodbath, and end up returning of their own free will because they need the money that badly. (Their situations represent a legitimately interesting cross-section of contemporary Korean culture, including a North Korean defector and a migrant worker from Pakistan.) Having now seen both the harsh realities they face in the game and at home, we’re forced to reckon with the notion that infinitesimal odds of survival in the Squid Game might just be better than none in modern society.

But this is a starting point from which the series does little in the way of development. “Squid Game” amplifies itself endlessly, raising the stakes and the level of inhumanity. (Its opening salvo of hundreds of dead bodies seems difficult to top, but it gets over the line in demonstrations of players’ brutality, which alternates somewhat schematically with their startling shows of kindness.) Show creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has emphasized that he wrote the script for the series in 2008 , before encountering recent projects with similar plots, like “The Hunger Games” book and film series. If we’re comparing the two, I’d argue that “The Hunger Games” series more clearly indicted the audience, which may be why its final installment represented a fall-off in popularity and why it’s infrequently discussed today. No one wants to be told they’re wrong for enjoying what they enjoy. Indeed, the piece of art this most clearly brought to mind was the significantly more flattering 2019 film “Joker.”

There, as here, violence is depicted flatly, and the embellishment comes from the fussy trappings around death and gore. Murder is fetishized as a way to raise the stakes in a hazily political conversation without proposing a solution. In both “Joker” and “Squid Game,” the concept of economic equality floats thickly in the air before the killings start, with “Squid Game’s” broad cross-section of the modern Korean underclass ultimately explored more as avatars of unluckiness or unfairness than as characters. And in both cases, exactingly composed visual landscapes — respectively, 1970s-Scorsese homage and playland-esque neons and rustic imagery of childhood — seem to have been staged in order to be disrupted by death. (It’s worth noting that much of “Squid Game’s” nostalgic visual palette is drawn specifically from Korean culture , an element about which a white American critic lacks a granular understanding.)

As the series runs on, it becomes clear that the Squid Game exists for many reasons, including for the harvesting of human organs from the killed and to provide amusement for a chattering class of wealthy people — some of them depicted as white Westerners — who bet on the results. About the first there seems little to say, other than that it’s impressive that the series found a way to be even more affectedly direct and unbothered about showing ways the human body can come apart. About the second, there seems insufficient irony or even meaningful appreciation that the show is encouraging its audience to do much the same thing as the much-loathed spectators. One fellow, for instance, shows up at the Squid Game viewing party and immediately starts threatening and violating someone who he believes to be a young functionary, culminating in an attempted coercive sex act.

It’s telling that the show feels the need to push this hard to insist that the people who’d watch the Squid Game for entertainment are so much more morally degraded than people who’d, say, simply watch “Squid Game” for entertainment. Like “Joker,” there’s a having-it-both-ways insistence that a culture that could create violence is inherently sick and deranged, while playing out a wildly overstated version of sick derangement in a manner designed to be maximally tense and amusing.

To be clear, there is an obvious difference between spectatorship of real-world and fictional violence, even before Hwang’s script dramatically draws it out. But it might be easier to see that distinction if the pile of bodies had been slaughtered in service of an idea more interesting than that inequality is bad. A season-closing conversation between the game’s winner and its architect indicates that the game was, in its essence, designed for entertainment and to see if it is possible for people to be good. (He believes that they are not, despite having seen various of the participants exhibiting teamwork, selflessness, and cooperation — but then, he was personally betrayed by the game’s winner, so his feelings may be a bit raw.)

This feels painfully thin as a justification for 455 dead bodies. Which is maybe the point: Those who play the Squid Game are subject to the most banal and juvenile philosophizing of those who, because of lucky breaks in life, get to determine everyone else’s reality. But taken on literal terms, that the show burned through so much life and so much fake blood in order to stage a character-based investigation of goodness, then it really is no surprise that this show has taken off. In relishing fictional death, the viewer of this series is told he’s doing something virtuous. And in enjoying gruesomeness while also tut-tutting at a system that would create such gruesomeness and rooting for its takedown, that viewer is experiencing a double pleasure, a sense of enjoying a show while also perching above it that ends up being the most complicated thing about “Squid Game.”

More From Our Brands

‘snl’: watch raye perform ‘escapism,’ ‘worth it’, putter’s paradise: the $39 million pebble beach estate wants to help you sharpen your short game, alabama, uconn share analytical mindset—and even used same firm, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, snl video: matt damon, paul rudd, ryan gosling and more welcome kristen wiig to the five-timers club, verify it's you, please log in.

Netflix’s New K-Thriller ‘Squid Game’ Is Disturbing and Fascinating and I Cannot Wait for Season 2

*Warning: Minor spoilers ahead*

I am an absolute wimp when it comes to gore and violence in TV shows and movies. But something about the candy-colored images and funny name of Netflix’s new Squid Game intrigued me enough to stop and watch the trailer. The premise is like a Nickelodeon game show turned fatal, with “contestants” playing a series of children's games where they get murdered if they lose. It is pretty much immediately made clear that this show involves plenty of violence and yet I, a person who couldn’t even stomach the Wikipedia descriptions of movies like Saw or Final Destination , needed to know more—I needed to watch the show.

While the first episode was wonderfully compelling (if a bit jarring at times), it was the premiere episode’s abrupt end and the twists of episode two (and beyond) that really pulled me in and led a gore-averse pacifist like myself to devour all nine episodes. And I am not the only one—the show is currently the number one Netflix show in the U.S.

The first episode of this Korean thriller opens with an explanation of a charming playground game called “the squid game,” cluing us into the origin of the show’s title. (Don’t worry if you don’t grasp the rules of the squid game right away, all the games are explained in full later on.) We then jump to Seong Gi-hun, our main protagonist, eating at his mother’s house. Despite her advanced age, she works very hard trying to provide for herself and her adult son, while Gi-hun appears entirely ungrateful, going so far as to steal her debit card to pull money from the bank before heading off to bet on horse races. We learn he has an immense amount of debt, most owed to violent loan sharks who threaten to steal his organs if he cannot repay them (yeah, you should accept the horrifying absurdity of deals like this early on, as there are even more to come).

We see Seong Gi-hun take his young daughter out for a birthday dinner, gifting her with a neatly wrapped box won in an arcade game—another demonstration of his gambling addiction—that turns out to be an all too realistic looking water gun. On his way home, he meets a well-dressed stranger who offers him 100,000 won if he can win a game of ddakji (another simple playground game), but if he loses the man will slap his face. Gi-hun plays for god knows how long, losing round after round until his face is red and bruised before he finally wins just once and is gifted with the money as promised as well as a business card and an offer to play more games for cash if he so chooses. While it’s clear that our lead has a lot of issues, he’s also frustrated with his dwindling role in his daughter’s life and the burdens he places on his mother. He decides to take the stranger’s offer and play another game. Oh, how he’ll come to regret that decision.

Now we enter the dystopian Hunger Games -esque competition promised in the trailer. Gi-hun and 455 other players, all of whom are revealed to owe massive amounts of money to the government and more nefarious organizations, find themselves waking up in a warehouse dressed in matching green tracksuits with numbers attached. We meet the rest of the ensemble cast, including Cho Sang-woo (a “successful” businessman and Gi-hun’s friend from childhood), Kang Sae-byeok (a pickpocket who earlier stole money from Gi-hun) and Oh Il-nam (an old man recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and by far the most interesting of the side characters). Masked individuals prompt them all to sign a contract with just three clauses—a player is not allowed to stop playing, a player who refuses to play will be eliminated and games may be terminated if the majority agrees—and then the horrifying and deadly “games” finally begin.

There were absolutely scenes where I squirmed in my seat, but realistically there isn’t all that much gore as compared with shows like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones . The discomfort came much more from the disturbing juxtaposition between the candy-colored sets and nostalgia-filled games with folks being shot in the head with very little warning. The premise is obviously quite similar to The Hunger Games and Battle Royale , and the evil mastermind behind this gruesome setup feels vaguely similar to Jigsaw (in that they wear a mask and murder people through games) from Saw , but even if you watched and loved those films you won’t be able to guess where Squid Game is headed.

The sets are absolutely incredible and the music choices are perfection, but it’s the performances by Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun and Oh Yeong-su as the old man that really sold me and made me want to watch episode after episode. (HoYeon Jung also deserves high praise for her portrayal of Kang Saw-byeok, who is much more than just a rebellious pickpocket.) It isn’t made immediately clear whether or not the series of games must culminate in a single winner or if multiple people can split the prize money—a whopping 456 million won—and it isn’t so easy to decide who to root for. The thought of any of the main ensemble dying, as some must eventually do, is heartbreaking. Regardless, I must say congratulations to Netflix for transforming this scaredy-cat viewer into a horror-bingeing believer.

Purewow Rating: 4 Stars

Squid Game is best watched as a 9-hour long movie so I highly suggest binging multiple episodes at a time. The episodes all vary in length and most end in what feels like the middle of a scene (don’t worry, they feel more like cliffhangers and less like frustratingly random breaks). Simply by the structure of the game setup, things become somewhat predictable or at least inevitable. But even though I could see where the show was headed, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of watching and it was still exciting to see it play out all the way to the end.

For a full breakdown of PureWow's entertainment rating system, click here .

Want all the latest entertainment news sent right to your inbox? Click here .

This New Home Invasion Thriller Just Became the #1 Movie on Netflix After Only Two Days

Squid Game is a winning addition to the burgeoning dystopia subgenre

Hwang Dong-hyuk’s visceral and addictive survival series turns playground memories into something sinister.

6 October 2021

By Anne Billson

Sign up for Sight & Sound’s Weekly Film Bulletin and more

News, reviews and archive features every Friday, and information about our latest magazine once a month.

► Squid Game is available to stream on Netflix .

It’s not hard to see why this South Korean mini-series is one of the most watched Netflix shows on the planet. While some of the subtler allusions might fly over non-Korean heads (infographics similar to designs from the 1988 Seoul Olympics, for example), the economic anxiety and class struggle informing the narrative are not just universally relatable, but wrapped in the sort of addictive genre packaging that westerners have already embraced in the work of filmmakers such as Bong Joon-ho (Parasite, Snowpiercer) or Lee Chang-dong (Burning).

Visceral survivalist thrills counterpointed by childhood memories hook the audience as surely as any of Gi-hun’s gambling compulsions, the progressively deepening characterisation holds their interest, and a couple of cunningly interwoven subplots help sidestep repetitiveness. One unexpected tangent in an early episode underlines the voluntary nature of the contestants’ participation, even when they’re aware of the games’ lethal nature, by emphasising the misery of the everyday lives they’re fleeing, as well as serving up some meta-humour as a would-be whistle-blower tries to describe the absurd-sounding plot to incredulous cops.

The opening game, a form of ‘Grandmother’s Footsteps’ featuring a giant doll equipped with motion sensors, leads to half the field being summarily felled by sniper fire. Seven characters soon stand out from the dwindling crowd competing for a pot of 45.6 billion (roughly $38 million), they include a gangster, an undocumented foreign worker, a North Korean refugee and a man with a brain tumour. Gi-hun, the chief protagonist, is introduced as a hapless loser, but as the games proceed his compassion and generosity establish him as the series’ moral compass amid a patchwork of alliances, betrayals, honest strategies or a readiness to cheat.

Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game (2021)

Squid Game writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk says he was inspired by Japanese manga such as Battle Royale (2000-05) and Liar Game (2005-15), adapted into, respectively, a film and TV series. But the sinister side of playtime can be traced back to the nightmare hide-and-seek from Dead of Night (1945), The Celestial Toymaker (1966) trapping Doctor Who’s companions into playing deadly games of blind man’s buff and hopscotch (all but one of these episodes have been lost), and to films like the British horror-comedy Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1970), in which a deviant family murders new “friends” in a playground. Game-playing motifs with added sociopolitical subtext have proliferated in a 21st century new wave of survival-themed fiction such as As the Gods Will (2014) or Alice in Borderland (2020), which in turn can trace their lineage back to key kill-or-be-killed texts such as Richard Connell’s novella The Most Dangerous Game (1924), or Robert Sheckley’s short stories ‘Seventh Victim’ (1953) and ‘The Prize of Peril,’ (1958), all filmed, and casting a long shadow over not just film franchises such as The Hunger Games (2012-15) or The Purge (2013-21), but also game shows, reality TV and video games.

Squid Game also contains hints of the stylised ‘Village’ environment from The Prisoner (1967); prior to each round, contestants are ushered down and along brightly coloured Escher-like staircases and corridors to the piped strains of Johann Strauss II . At the end of each game, bloodied corpses are loaded into pink-ribboned giftbox-like coffins by guards whose uniforms, masks and voice changers not only make them resemble weaponised Minions from Despicable Me, but enable the show to defer the reveal of one of its superstar guest stars, Lee Byung-hun, for maximum dramatic impact (while presumably allowing for a less costly stand-in during the earlier stages). Another guest star, Gong Yoo – familiar in the west from his role as the salaryman protagonist of Train to Busan – plays a smiling salesman who scouts for potential contestants by inviting them to play games of chance.

In a series that delineates its multiple protagonists so elegantly, the one element that rings false is its depiction of a jaded oligarchy that gets its kicks from watching the hoi polloi being tortured and murdered, an anonymous elite already familiar from the Hostel trilogy (2005-11), two Escape Room films (2019 and 2021) and The Hunt (2020). Squid Game’s VIP s are one-dimensional grotesques lumbered with clumsy English dialogue, where a touch more nuance would have sharpened the sadism rather than blunted it. But the series itself is a winning addition to the burgeoning dystopia subgenre, stirring horror, science fiction and social commentary into only the latest manifestation of pop culture’s favourite way of critiquing the dog-eat-dog world of late capitalism.

Other things to explore

Io capitano: a surreal, shapeshifting quest for a new life in europe.

By Jason Anderson

The First Omen: a surprisingly lively take on well-worn franchise mythology

By Adam Nayman

Monkey Man: Dev Patel wreaks brutal havoc in a muddled but enthralling revenge drama

By Guy Lodge

facebook-rs

We Have Seen the Enemy in ‘Squid Game’ — and It Is Us

By Alan Sepinwall

Alan Sepinwall

This post contains some spoilers for the first season of Squid Game , available now on Netflix .

Red light, green light. Tug of war. Marbles. These are, as Seong Gi-hun and the other main characters of Netflix’s South Korean drama series Squid Game will repeatedly observe, games designed for children. Eventually, the mastermind of a brutal contest — in which 456 people in dire financial straits will risk their lives for a huge cash prize — will explain that as his adult life became devoid of joy, he hearkened back to the games that thrilled him so much as a boy.

On the one hand, Squid Game is an intensely mature piece of television. It is frequently ultraviolent, occasionally frank sexually, and throughout a dark satire of income inequality. On the other, it is a show meant to appeal to its viewers’ twisted inner child. It’s not just the games themselves, but the brightly colored, oversize playground (both metaphorically and, in a few sequences, literally) in which the players are forced to live and compete. Despite a big cast, the storytelling is relatively simple and straightforward. And the satirical elements about the evil billionaires who come to bet on the game can at times feel like how a grade schooler — particularly a grade schooler whose teachers have exposed them to The Most Dangerous Game , gladiator fiction, etc. — might imagine the one percent to be.

For the most part, writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s mix of high and low elements like that works incredibly well. The first two episodes are largely devoted to showing the desperate lives of gambling addict Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), disgraced embezzler Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo), North Korean defector Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon), and the other players, and explaining why each of them would participate even after learning — via a red light–green light contest featuring a giant robot and sniper rifles — of the game’s deadly stakes. But once the action settles in for good on the game’s island base, the action and suspense are propulsive and relentless, making Squid Game the rare Netflix binge that never sags.

Editor’s picks

The 250 greatest guitarists of all time, the 500 greatest albums of all time, the 50 worst decisions in movie history, every awful thing trump has promised to do in a second term.

Though we start out with hundreds of competitors — and the sheer scale of the endeavor is a huge part of what is simultaneously so creepy and so visually compelling(*) — the focus is primarily on a handful of them, plus cop Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who impersonates a guard while searching for the missing brother he believes participated in the game years earlier. (Other core players include immigrant worker Ali, played by Anupam Tripathi; elderly dementia patient number one, played by O Yeong-su; Heo Sung-tae as menacing gangster Jang Deok-su; and Kim Joo-ryoung as the unstable, manipulative Han Mi-nyeo.) The relatively tight focus makes it easier to emotionally invest in what could otherwise feel like hollow, bloody spectacle. The characters are for the most part broad types — Gi-hun a rascal trying to make the best of a bad situation, Sang-woo the smug overachiever, Deok-su the schoolyard bully, etc. — but the actors are given enough room to fortify each one with enough individuality for the many deaths to have meaning. In particular, the final competition feels emotionally rich in a way that neatly underscores the monstrosity of the whole affair.

(*) The production design is so vividly weird — particularly the Day-Glo-colored infinity staircases the players march through on the way to each game — that it (or maybe just art director Chae Kyoung-sun) deserves very high billing.

It’s been nearly a month since Squid Game premiered. It’s always impossible to know how many people are watching anything on a streaming service, but this one certainly feels like a phenomenon. It’s far from the first international series to hit big for Netflix (see also Lupin , Money Heist , and Elite , among others), but the level of sustained online chatter about Squid Game rivals few of the streamer’s shows outside of Stranger Things and Bridgerton . This response is a testament to the filmmaking craft of Hwang and his collaborators: This is an exciting (if at times stomach-churning) yarn, told with flourishes that enhance everything that’s happening. But Squid Game also feels very much a show of the moment, even if Hwang is far from the first to tell this kind of story onscreen (think 1987’s The Running Man , with Arnold Schwarzenegger, or the 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale ). The world has been through so much economic, physical, and emotional hardship in the past couple of years, even as the fortunes of the wealthiest have increased. We live in a time when the border between parody and reality feels agonizingly thin, to the point where if we found out there was a real Squid Game–style tournament happening somewhere, not only would many of us not be surprised, but there would be cable-news personalities and members of Congress lining up to defend the practice within hours of this discovery.

'SNL' Weekend Update Tackles Northeast Earthquake, Trump's 'Cocaine' Comment

Thought It Was Wind
By William Vaillancourt

'SNL' Monologue: Kristen Wiig Gets Her 'Five-Timers' Jacket from Ryan Gosling

In The Club

'Star Wars': 'The Mandalorian & Grogu' Making Jump to Big Screen in May 2026

a galaxy far, far away
By Daniel Kreps

Jerrod Carmichael Opens Up About His Complicated Relationship With Sex: ‘I Use It to Escape’

Sexual Healing
By Kalia Richardson

Pat Sajak's Final 'Wheel of Fortune' Show Date Confirmed

By Ethan Millman

Most Popular

Joaquin phoenix, elliott gould, chloe fineman and more jewish creatives support jonathan glazer's oscars speech in open letter (exclusive), barron trump’s super-rare outing with dad donald may show why we never see them together, georgia secretary of state sent letter to larry david over 'curb' voting law plot, partynextdoor reveals nsfw 'partynextdoor 4' album cover, you might also like, ‘snl weekend update’ takes on kanye west and diddy: ‘i am shocked to hear that ye believes in the holocaust’, hudson’s bay company ceo richard baker in bid to buy galeria in germany, the best medicine balls, according to fitness trainers, ‘infested’ review: french creature feature leaves ‘evil dead’ in nimble and nightmarish hands, alabama, uconn share analytical mindset—and even used same firm.

Verify it's you

Please log in.

Squid Game: Season 1 Review

You'll never look at "red light, green light" the same way again..

Squid Game is now streaming on Netflix.

Squid Game sounds like an homage to those strange underwater creatures that undulate below the sea. It's actually a compelling, candy-coated fever dream in which contestants play the innocent games from their childhood with one major change: if they lose, their lives are forfeit. It's a jarring, disturbing portrait of individuals eking out hard luck existences and struggling across Seoul, South Korea, and as much a tale of a dystopian hellscape of the mind as it is a horror series viewed through the lens of those scraping by.

Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) is an average guy who's in serious need of some cash, or a miracle. He's down on his luck, with a daughter he may never see again and an elderly mother who's still forced to take care of him as though he were a child. So when given the opportunity to play a series of children's games for an astronomical sum of money, Gi-hun can't refuse.

What's your favorite Korean thriller?

Neither can nearly 500 other participants, all of whom have been voluntarily whisked away to the middle of nowhere, under surveillance by masked guards and clad in numbered T-shirts and sweatsuits. All are chasing the magical sum of money that could potentially make every single one of their problems disappear -- but at what cost?

That all becomes apparent once the "players" realize even the simplest children's game in this prison-like compound could result in a swift, painful death. The childlike joy of "Red Light, Green Light" quickly devolves into a harrowing sight as those who move a single muscle during the "red light" are unceremoniously shot where they stand.

Netflix Spotlight: October 2021

Click through for a spotlight on some of the most notable October 2021 Netflix releases.

It's haunting, of course, but perhaps even more terrifying is the idea that these people are willingly participating. The thought of returning to their old lives and facing their debts is so terrible that they'd rather risk imminent death. It's a concept that hangs heavy throughout the series' lean 9-episode run, especially as the story expands from Gi-hun's somewhat selfish existence and explores the others involved in the games.

One of the series' greatest strengths is weaving a tangled web of character development that pays off with each new hour we watch. North Korean defector Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon) is tough as nails on the outside, but occasionally reveals a kinder, gentler side. Gi-hun's childhood friend Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) is an even more intriguing case, having stolen money from his clients, going so far as to put his mother's home and business on the line as collateral. And though we know all this, these players' truest intentions remain obfuscated time and time again. That’s part of what keeps us watching, after all.

And it’s easy to become attached to these players, even though it's quickly established that you could be saying goodbye to them at any moment. Squid Game moves at a breakneck pace, speeding from game to game, keeping you at the edge of your seat as the body count climbs and the plot continues to thicken. And it isn't for the squeamish, as participants are shot right between the eyes without so much as flinching during competitions and bodies left to pile up until there are enough victors to pass through.

Sometimes it’s not that characters are dying, but how they’re “eliminated” that makes you sit up and pay attention. The first game involves an eerie robot doll that turns around and “looks” for people still moving after the “red light” is given as it scans for violators. The second game forces players to chisel a shape out of a piece of honeycomb -- prompting the craftier players to use anything at their disposal, even if it means the humiliating task of licking the treat over and over again to make the job easier.

But throughout all the violence and the multiple poignant, thoughtful moments, there's one central thread: the juxtaposition of the innocence of childhood against the harsh world we're all forced to endure. There are also questions upon questions that arise at every corner. For instance, who are these mysterious masked captors, and how does it benefit them to offer such a large payout for people who are down on their luck? Why not find a less sadistic way to be altruistic?

It's difficult to say, of course, but answers do come in due time. You'll be left pondering what these poor souls could possibly be made to go through next as each episode concludes, however, and frantically scrambling for the play button to see what happens, all in the hopes of finding out what's really going on, just like the players themselves, and striking it rich with a bit of "plot" lottery. While the last bits of the story do drag a small bit as the story winds down, the tension doesn’t let up until the final credits roll. By then, you’ll have seen hundreds of deaths, gallons of blood, and some truly ingenious acts from people just like you and me who have all chosen one path forward: living, no matter what it takes. And that’s a hell of a lot scarier than giving up and succumbing to debts and hardship.

Fall TV 2021 Streaming Preview: Biggest New and Returning Shows

Click through to find a quick look at the notable new and returning series headed your way through December 2021, and for the shows airing on network or cable channels, you'll find secondary streaming options for all the cord-cutters out there.

Squid Game is one of the most exciting series to hit Netflix in some time. It mashes up the carefree, idyllic days of childhood with the brutal realism of adulthood as it forces everyday people to compete in life or death matches in a bid to potentially wipe out their debts. Equal parts gut-wrenching and squirm-inducing, it’s a white-knuckle thriller, drama, and episodic psychological breakdown with a sickly pastel veneer. It’s one of the most unique things you’ll watch this year -- and maybe ever.

More Reviews by Brittany Vincent

Ign recommends.

Death Race 2000 Was Fun, Violent, and Prophetic

The New MSI 32" 4K QD OLED Gaming Monitor Is Finally Available, and at a Great Price

Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission.

Squid Game ’s Apocalypse Is Now

There is more than one Squid Game . There is Squid Game as a cultural idea, the Squid Game Vulture’s Joe Adalian wrote about as “ Planet Squid Game ”: the Korean Netflix series that has quickly become a world-dominating piece of television and proof of the streamer’s global reach. That Squid Game is a hilariously, almost perversely flattened version of the show itself — it is the Squid Game that exists so that Jeff Bezos can retweet “Planet Squid Game ” as a congratulations for Netflix’s “internationalization strategy.” It’s also the Squid Game that has required Netflix to hastily slap together a merchandizing plan (customize a T-shirt with your own player number!), and will no doubt spark many industry conversations about what could be the next Squid Game .

That version of Squid Game is real and potent, and it’s aided by elements of the show that are primed for cultural penetration. Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk’s direction and Squid Game ’s overall visual design are so striking that images from the series can stand on their own, floating around the internet as pictures with detachable meanings. The first episode features a giant doll with a rotating head and an inescapable, perpetually darting gaze. She is a mysterious obsession, an embodied panopticon, an ironic image of outsize childishness returning to haunt us. Then there are the green track suits with their utilitarian, dehumanizing number badges; there’s the shot of Gong Yoo , calm and disarming, holding up the two red and blue ddakji envelopes. All of those images can refer to specific Squid Game scenes, but memes work by dissociating the image from the original context. The pervasiveness of Squid Game memes is its own kind of meaning, sometimes but not necessarily about the show, but more so about the way its imagery has been so quickly recognized and disseminated.

But beyond that — or rather, before that — there is Squid Game the nine-episode Korean TV series, which has achieved this level of global recognition because it is distinctively itself while also playing in markedly familiar spaces. (If you have not seen Squid Game yet and your preference is to watch totally unspoiled by its premise, stop here.) The show’s closest relatives are Battle Royale and Hunger Games –style stories: people who are forced or recruited into a game where the only way to win is for all of your opponents to die. In Squid Game , the protagonist is a down-on-his-luck guy named Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who finds himself deeply in debt, divorced, struggling to connect with his daughter, and guilty over his inability to support his elderly mother. He has a gambling problem. His debt is enormous — impossible to get out from underneath, and his creditors are closing in. And so, in the meme-able scene where he plays ddakji , an envelope-flipping game, Gi-hun gets enlisted into the Squid Game, a nightmarish facility isolated from the rest of the world where contestants play simple childhood games for the promise of huge wealth: 45.6 billion won, or approximately $38 million. The winner becomes immensely wealthy; the losers die.

The connections to modern capitalism and the desperation of financial inequality is more explicit in Squid Game than in a Hunger Games –type setting. There is no veneer of fantasy or lightly rewritten place names to let viewers pretend that Gi-hun’s despair takes place in a faraway made-up world. Gi-hun is interested in the game because offering himself up to a stranger for potential financial gain seems safer than continuing with his life as it is, and later, because even the nightmare of Squid Game offers more possibility than the life he’d been leading.

His fellow players are just as desperate. Squid Game populates the game with blunt, schematic character types (an old man, a criminal, an immigrant, a woman from North Korea, a guy who was superficially successful but secretly underwater, a married couple, a doctor, the one lady everyone hates), and if the show were less deft in the writing of Gi-hun or in the cruel nostalgia of its beautifully designed games, the oversimplified side characters might have been more of a detraction. The most frustrating among them is Ali, the show’s Pakistani immigrant character played by Anupam Tripathi, who barely gets more than a few wistful, guileless lines. The mysterious American VIPs introduced later aren’t much better, but they also don’t need to be; even without detail or particularly compelling performances, they fulfill the role Squid Game needs them to play. Sure, the economy might be absurdly complex and the causes of modern inequality might be multifaceted, but at the end of the day, there are some people who have more than enough, and Gi-hun and his doomed co-players are the have-nots.

There’s a very small subgenre that Squid Game operates within (survive the brutal games to outlast the larger broken system), but it’s also playing in the broader, longer history of the social-experiment story. “The Most Dangerous Game,” Lord of the Flies , more contemporary TV shows like Amazon Prime’s The Wilds , and even the related group of post-apocalypse stories like the current FX adaptation of Y: The Last Man — there are lots of stories that let us watch human behavior play out in highly controlled, heightened scenarios. It’s as though the stark, rule-bound falseness of the experiment will let us see something about humanity that’s otherwise too hidden under social niceties and real-world messiness. The difference between Squid Game and a post-apocalypse show, though, is where the emphasis falls. In apocalyptic stories, the specific nature of the collapse becomes the social experiment: What if only people who lived in this tiny town survive? What if only people with certain characteristics make it? But there’s an inherent optimism in watching people struggle to look ahead. It’s a form of social experiment that hopes the experiment succeeds.

It’s hard to not think about apocalypse while watching Squid Game . Or maybe it’s hard to not think about apocalypse because it’s 2021, and that’s when we’re all watching Squid Game . Whatever the case, although Squid Game does plenty of post-apocalyptic musing about how humanity might behave under extreme conditions, the sense of collapse is different. In Squid Game , as Gi-hun frantically scrambles to locate some bottom to the bottomless pit of inhumanity he finds himself inside, the show is most intense and horrifying, most fully and confidently itself, at the moments when there seems to be no end to the abyss. The show’s gorgeous, intense visuals work best early, when it’s still full of mystery, when the terrifying doll’s eyes see everything and there is no hope of escape. As Squid Game ’s ending reaches for answers and for a future, it gets less surprising and less visually virtuosic. It’s not the kind of apocalypse story that longs for hopeful human resilience; it’s most eloquent on the topics of financial despondence and weaponized nostalgia.

All of that makes Squid Game ’s life as a triumphant poster child for global cultural dominance pretty dark. The show the whole world wants to watch right now is a show that’s best when it’s about realizing that the end has already come, and we’re all just grabbing at straws to distract from how bad it already is. That’s pretty bleak, but that’s also the way Squid Game would want it to be.

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

Lower case letters (a-z)
Upper case letters (A-Z)
Numbers (0-9)
Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

Latest Reviews
Behind The Scenes
Write For Us
Advertise With Us

Substance & Meaningful Entertainment

Against gossip & scandal, independent media network, global stories from local perspective, factual culture news, ‘squid game’: netflix’s big hit tells a rich story about society and class structures.

Ben Ross is a writer at Hollywood Insider. He loves watching films and finding the message behind the art. With a love for movies and television, his goal is to understand as much as he can about anything he watches, and engage with readers about different topics related to the industry. He aims to find work that sheds a light on issues not really talked about and showcase it, feeling that it is important to understand the truth. Together with his readers, he hopes to celebrate beautiful stories in film and explore topics that are worth discussing – a value that defines Hollywood Insider.

Oct 9, 2021

Table of Contents

The Hollywood Insider Squid Games Review

Photo: ‘Squid Game’

If you asked me weeks ago if I’ve ever seen ‘Squid Game’ , I’d probably look at you like you have three heads. Now, three weeks after its premiere on Netflix , it’s all anyone’s been talking about. I’ve heard friends, peers, even strangers really, who can’t stop talking about this brand new show on Netflix and how it’s a must-watch. And now, after viewing the first two episodes, I can completely understand why.

‘Squid Game’ has a lot going for it that makes it so enjoyable to watch. The performances are all great and the hardcore premise puts a nice spin on the whole “survival games” story that you see in ‘Battle Royale’ or ‘The Hunger Games’ . It took 11 years for the show’s creator and director, Hwang Dong-hyuk , to get it picked up by someone and Netflix has definitely proven to be the best place for it to thrive. Now, with millions of people watching, the show has become a global phenomenon and could become the streaming service’s most-watched show ever. It’s bold, it’s tense, and it plays hard with your emotions. Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ has struck gold.

Related article: ‘In the Heights’ – Behind the Scenes and Full Commentary/Reactions from Cast & Crew

Related article: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase: “The Importance of Venice Film Festival as the Protector of Cinema”

The Premise of ‘Squid Game’

This 9-episode series follows Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun, a poor man who’s living with his mother in South Korea . He has accumulated a large amount of debt, scraping by as a chauffeur. After an awful day of winning and losing a large sum of money, Gi-hun gets an offer from a man in a suit while waiting at a train station. The man offers to play a game of ddakji , a children’s game, where he will win money every time he wins. After playing for a while and eventually winning against the man, Gi-hun is given a card with a phone number on it and an offer for more opportunities to play games for cash. Gi-hun calls the number and is soon taken away unconsciously.

When he wakes, he finds himself in a large warehouse with 455 other players, people from different walks of life who are all in crippling debt. They are all told they must win six different games in order to win a large sum of money, but they soon find that loss results in their death. Alliances are made and lives are lost as Gi-hun does his best to navigate through the games and hit it big, while staying alive in the process.

A Metaphor for Class Structure

The whole story is a metaphor for class structure and capitalism, how people will do anything to make some money. Money is what keeps people alive. Of course, ‘Squid Game’ takes that in the literal sense by making the contestants play games that actually decide their life or death. In the first episode, “Red Light, Green Light” , we see Gi-hun and the others play the titular children’s game. At first, the contestants think it’s all for fun and just run for the money. But once someone moves on the wrong turn, they get fatally shot in an instant.

Related article: MUST WATCH – The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s Love Letter to Black Lives Matter – VIDEO

Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here.

That’s what ‘Squid Game’ is all about. It’s about desperate people who are desperate for money doing what they can to get that money and fix their lives. What makes this show so effective is its willingness to go in-depth behind-the-scenes of our main cast of characters. Our protagonist, Gi-hun, is in severe debt and would do anything for any kind of money, but he mainly wants to use it for family reasons and to pay off gambling debts. Another character, Kang Sae-byeok (played by Jung Ho-yeon ), needs money to smuggle her family out of her North Korean homeland. Even the gangster, Jang Deok-su ( Heo Sung-tae ), is desperate for cash to pay off his massive gambling debts. Every contestant who ends up in the games may have differing values and reasons for wanting the money, but they all make sense and it makes the reality of ‘Squid Game’ more fleshed out and believable.

Related article: The Masters of Cinema Archives: The Hollywood Insider Pays Tribute to ‘La Vie En Rose’, Exclusive Interview with Director Olivier Dahan

Related article: – Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY

The Importance of Family in ‘Squid Game’

That’s the focus of the show’s second episode “Hell” . We focus more on the characters’ lives outside of the games and how they ended up there in the first place. After watching these people suffer in their attempts to make things better, it becomes clearly evident why they even signed up for the games in the first place. Gi-hun is a great character to follow because he feels like a real person. As soon as we meet him, you can tell he desperately needs cash. He scrapes by chauffeuring and gambling, freeloading at his mother’s house. What a great first impression, right?

But there’s more to him than that. He has a daughter that’s under the custody of his ex-wife and her new husband, and he desperately wants to be with her. His mother has diabetes and needs surgery immediately, but might not last much longer. The money isn’t just about being rich and paying gambling debts anymore, it’s about keeping your family close. ‘Squid Game’ focuses a lot on family and protecting your loved ones , a narrative that humanizes its main characters.

Related article: Why Queen Elizabeth II Is One Of The Greatest Monarchs | Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of United Queendom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (Video Insight)

Limited Time Offer – FREE Subscription to The Hollywood Insider

Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy.

With an ensemble of contestants to explore and learn about, the show benefits from having so many people to focus on. The characters are very easy to sympathize with and root for (Sae-byeok has been a fan-favorite already) and you feel the tension knowing that they all won’t make it out alive by the end. ‘Squid Game’ is a psychological journey into what it’s like to be poor in South Korea, akin to how Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’ explored a similar concept. Poverty is a problem that resonates worldwide, and the idea that some people would do anything for extra cash is a sad truth. But it’s what makes this show so riveting to watch. There’s a reason ‘Squid Game’ has been at the top of Netflix’s charts for the last few weeks, and it’s because it’s an inventive idea that feels new, and that’s refreshing to see. Netflix keeps making hit after hit, and ‘Squid Game’ is a fine addition to the streaming network’s catalogue that every curious reader should go check out.

All 9 episodes of ‘Squid Game’ are available now on Netflix.

Cast and Crew:

Cast: Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Jung Ho-yeon, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, Kim Joo-ryoung, Wi Ha-joon

Created by: Hwang Dong-hyuk | Directed by: Hwang Dong-hyuk | Written by: Hwang Dong-hyuk

Composed by: Jung Jae-il

By Ben Ross

Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Black Lives Matter, in which he tackles more than just police reform, press freedom and more – click here.

An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “The Hollywood Insider fully supports the much-needed Black Lives Matter movement. We are actively, physically and digitally a part of this global movement. We will continue reporting on this major issue of police brutality and legal murders of Black people to hold the system accountable. We will continue reporting on this major issue with kindness and respect to all Black people, as each and every one of them are seen and heard.

Just a reminder, that the Black Lives Matter movement is about more than just police brutality and extends into banking, housing, education, medical, infrastructure, etc. We have the space and time for all your stories. We believe in peaceful/non-violent protests and I would like to request the rest of media to focus on 95% of the protests that are peaceful and working effectively with positive changes happening daily. Media has a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so.”

Ways to support Black Lives Matter Movement to end systemic racism

More Interesting Stories From The Hollywood Insider

– Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY

– Compilation: All James Bond 007 Opening Sequences From 1962 Sean Connery to Daniel Craig

– Do you know the hidden messages in ‘Call Me By Your Name’? Find out behind the scenes facts in the full commentary and In-depth analysis of the cinematic masterpiece

– A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | From Rami Malek, Leonardo DiCaprio To Denzel Washington, Halle Berry & Beyond | From Olivia Colman, Meryl Streep To Bette Davis & Beyond

– In the 32nd Year Of His Career, Keanu Reeves’ Face Continues To Reign After Launching Movies Earning Over $4.3 Billion In Total – “John Wick”, “Toy Story 4”, “Matrix”, And Many More

squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game, squid game

View all posts

You might also like…

Newsletter Subscription

Enter Your Email *
Comments This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Netflix streaming
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

Monkey Man Link to Monkey Man
The First Omen Link to The First Omen
The Beast Link to The Beast

New TV Tonight

Chucky: Season 3
Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Season 1
Fallout: Season 1
Franklin: Season 1
Dora: Season 1
Good Times: Season 1
Beacon 23: Season 2

Where to Watch

Watch Squid Game with a subscription on Netflix.

Cast & Crew

Lee Jung-jae

Seong Gi-Hun

Park Hae-soo

Cho Sang-Woo

Oh Yeong-su

Jung Ho-Yeon

Heo Sung-tae

Jang Deok-su

Popular TV on Streaming

Tv news & guides, this show is featured in the following articles., series info.

TV Series |

Squid Game Review

Streaming on: Netflix

Episodes viewed: 9 of 9

With its simple yet brutal premise that dials right into the recent boom of class-warfare stories, Squid Game is an unsubtle but riveting show fast becoming a global phenomenon. The groundwork for the show’s success (it’s currently on track to become Netflix’s biggest original series of all time) has been laid as far back as 2000, when Japanese horror Battle Royale garnered a cult following for its ruthless teen murder games. More recently in 2019, Todd Phillips’ Joker and Bong Joon-ho ’s Parasite swept awards season with their two vastly different takes on the cavernous divide between rich and poor.

Squid Game exists right in the pit of this divide, where 456 desperate individuals attempt to survive six violent interpretations of children’s games in the hope of scoring a life-changing 45.6 billion won (around £28 million). Writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk demonstrates a real inventive flair when it comes to the tournament itself, from the presence of a chilling, pigtailed mechanical doll in the opening game, to the uniforms that distinguish the contestants from the elusive masked guards; teal tracksuits for the former, hot-pink boilersuits for the latter.

The clinical execution of violence is heavy and relentless from the off. Contestants are shot en masse at close range, blood drips off swing sets, and a vicious nocturnal riot is captured via infrared. As the games roll on, an entertainment element is introduced to further twist the already rib-deep knife buried (mostly) figuratively in the contestants’ sides.

Its final act twists feel thrilling thanks to Hwang Dong-hyuk’s taut, precise script.

Yet there’s heart to be found in the macabre parade of human suffering. Enemies are made amongst the ranks of survivors — notably Jang Deok-su (Heo Sung-tae), a surly gangster with a face tattoo of a gun — but so are allies. Among them are Kang Sae-byeok (standout newcomer Jung Ho-yeon), a pickpocket and North Korean defector who plans to use the prize money to get her remaining family over the border. Oh Il-nam (Oh Yeong-su) is a gentle older contestant who suffers from a brain tumour, and on the guards’ side there’s Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), a cop who has infiltrated the game with the aim of finding his missing brother.

Hwang weaves poignant details about Gi-hun and his comrades into the story as he moves frenetically between games, all while ending each episode on a tantalising cliffhanger. Bolstered by unwaveringly engaged performances from Lee and his central co-stars, each backstory pushes the emotional stakes of the show to painstaking new heights, which, when matched with its rising body count, makes for moments of raw tragedy.

Even with its final act twists — which feel thrilling thanks to Hwang’s taut, precise script — Squid Game doesn’t say much about privilege, poverty and cruelty that hasn’t been said already. Yet with its propulsive storytelling, robustly drawn characters and thoughtful dialogue — which, it has been discovered, should be watched with ‘English’ rather than ‘English CC’ subtitles on Netflix for a more nuanced translation – there’s still plenty to enjoy within these familiar themes. That Squid Game also manages to be one of the most visually exhilarating shows of the year is a delightful if often gruesome bonus.

TV Series | 07 04 2022

TV Series | 01 02 2024

TV Series | 22 09 2023

Movies | 29 09 2022

TV Series | 09 09 2022

TV Series | 08 12 2021

TV Series | 09 11 2021

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

For Parents
For Educators
Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

Get the app
Movie Reviews
Best Movie Lists
Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best TV Lists
Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
Common Sense Selections for TV
Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

Book Reviews
Best Book Lists
Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Game Reviews
Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Podcast Reviews
Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

App Reviews
Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

YouTube Channel Reviews
YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

Explaining the News to Our Kids

Family Tech Planners
Digital Skills
All Articles
Latino Culture
Black Voices
Asian Stories
Native Narratives
LGBTQ+ Pride
Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

K-thriller has extreme violence, sex, some moral lessons.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Korean culture, language, and customs are embedded

Be loyal to your friends. Honesty pays off. Respec

Elders in this show dispense wisdom, and they are

Because it takes place in Korea, there is strong A

Beatings with threats of torture -- like using an

People are shown having sex. Sexual images.

Frequent use of language like "damn," "piss," "bas

Money and greed, gambling, and hustling are themes

Characters smoke frequently, drink hard alcohol.

Parents need to know that the level of violence is very intense in Squid Game . Characters are systematically tortured and killed for the sadistic pleasure of a game master. Adults have sex, and there are threats of sexual violence: Women are grabbed by the hair and beaten. Themes concerning the highs one gets…

Educational Value

Korean culture, language, and customs are embedded into this thriller.

Positive Messages

Be loyal to your friends. Honesty pays off. Respect your family. Help others even if it puts you at risk.

Positive Role Models

Elders in this show dispense wisdom, and they are considered but not always revered or respected. Main character Gi-hun yells at his elderly mother, steals her debit card. Gi-hun adores his tween daughter, but she tends to act like the adult in the relationship, advising him to stop smoking and not get beaten up.

Diverse Representations

Because it takes place in Korea, there is strong Asian representation. Women play secondary roles, are often treated with disdain. Within the game, most players are men who appear to be in their 20s to 40s; a larger age range is depicted outside the game.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Beatings with threats of torture -- like using an instrument inserted into someone's nose to make "blood soup." Long, drawn-out scene of mass murder by gunshot with blood spewing out of heads, out of chests; hundreds of people lying in bloody piles. Threat of murder that makes people do horrible things to each other. Men beat women who are lying on the ground, grab them by the hair. Threat of sexual violence. Suicide attempt. Sadistic game master enjoys seeing people killed, makes light of people's pain and suffering.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent use of language like "damn," "piss," "bastard," "godammit," "s--t," "bitch."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Money and greed, gambling, and hustling are themes here. Certain Korean brands are seen but not focused upon.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (108)
Kids say (322)

Based on 108 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In SQUID GAME, 47-year-old Gi-hun lives with his mother and sometimes works as a chauffeur. After stealing his mother's debit card, withdrawing her savings, and taking it to a gambling den, he's hunted down by debt collectors who threaten to take his kidney and his eye if he doesn't come up with the money he owes within a month. His 10-year-old daughter is living with a wealthy stepfather, who may be moving far away, and things look pretty bleak. Then a mysterious stranger with a briefcase approaches Gi-hun in a subway station, enticing him to play a child's game for serious money. When he loses, he is slapped. When he wins, he makes good money. The stranger gives him a card, inviting him to join a bigger game for really good money. Will Gi-hun call? Will his life be the same if he does?

Is It Any Good?

Though too violent for young teens, there are some moral lessons peeking out behind the lines in this series. In Squid Game , the play between the clownish, down-on-his-luck main character, Gi-hun, and the cold killer behind the game he's lured into creates an intriguing tension. The characters are nicely developed, and the production value of the series is extremely sleek. The human element lends depth.

But there is a lot of torture and murder to endure -- no subtlety there -- and the violence can come off as gratuitous. Some predictable plot points distract from the fine acting and the high-minded concept. Fans of dystopian thrillers will enjoy this series. Sensitive or younger viewers should avoid this one.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about intense violence as seen in Squid Game . A character enjoys seeing people in pain. How does seeing violence like that influence how you think of human nature?

Characters in this series are in debt, often because they're addicted to gambling. Are there addictions that are of concern to you?

Characters in this series smoke . What can you do to help keep your friends and family from smoking?

Premiere date : September 17, 2021
Cast : Lee Jung-jae , Jung Ho-yeon , Wi Ha-jun
Network : Netflix
Genre : Action
Topics : Adventures , Friendship
TV rating : TV-MA
Award : Golden Globe
Last updated : February 18, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Want personalized picks for your kids' age and interests?

The Hunger Games

Drama tv for teens, thriller movies, related topics.

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

'Squid Game': Why everyone is obsessed with Netflix's brutal South Korean horror series

The biggest show on Netflix might just be a South Korean horror series with a cephalopod name and a violent, disturbing concept.

By now you've probably heard of "Squid Game," a dark social satire in which desperately impoverished people are enticed to compete in children's games with deadly stakes for the chance to win a life-changing cash prize. Since its Sept. 17 debut on the streaming service, it has become an online craze, sparking memes and fan theories and becoming the No. 1 show on the streamer in 70 countries , including the U.S., according to Netflix.

We may never have appointment television viewing like "Game of Thrones" again in the streaming era, but amid the proliferation of content, streaming or otherwise, a genuine word-of-mouth surprise can still surface. And that's what's happened with "Squid Game," which received virtually no press or marketing in the U.S. before its debut. It joins a recent list of successful foreign language series for Netflix stateside (including "Lupin" and "Money Heist") and will likely stay at the top of the pop-culture conversation as long as people keep telling their friends to watch.

So what it is about "Squid" (★★★½ out of four), that has so many people suctioned to their screens?

There is a visceral, primal, can't-look-away feeling to the nine-episode series, which traffics in gore but also deep psychological horror and disturbances. The protagonist is Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a divorced father who's a bit of a degenerate and a gambler. He's scraping by on the back of his elderly mother, whom he lives with while occasionally stealing her money.

More: 'Money Heist,' 'Lupin,' 'Unorthodox': How Netflix's non-English shows became global hits

After a brutally bad day, Gi-hun is approached by a smartly dressed young man in the subway, who offers him a chance to win money by playing games. After accepting, Gi-hun is whisked (or rather, gassed and kidnapped) to a deserted island, where he awakes in a dormitory with 455 other players. Among them is his childhood friend Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo), the bright kid who got out of the neighborhood, only to steal and embezzle, leaving him wanted and in debt.

The players sign a vague contract to participate in the games and get started with Red Light Green Light – but if they move when they're not supposed to, they are killed by sniper rifle. That's when the stakes of the game become truly real: If you lose any of the games or refuse to play, you die. The players are given an opportunity to leave, but the 45.6 billion won prize (equivalent to nearly $39 million) and the horrors of their own lives bring many back. Soon the players fear not only dying at the hands of the game masters, but by each other, as the worst parts of human nature come out.

"Squid" is immediately evocative of similar films, shows and books including the 2000 Japanese film "Battle Royale" – about kids forced to fight to the death by a totalitarian government – and "The Hunger Games" series. What separates "Squid" is that the players in the game have a false sense of agency in their plight: As the game masters repeatedly say, they all chose to be there. But when their only other option is returning to a life of suffering that's worse, how is that really a choice?

"Squid" harshly critiques society's economic inequalities, especially as the rich controllers and spectators behind the game are revealed. It takes specific aim at South Korea – a North Korean defector is a main character, who ruefully says she escaped the North for a better life in the South, only to find similar desperation – but it's universal in 2021, especially as the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare so many injustices.

More: 50 best TV shows to watch on Netflix right now: 'Seinfeld,' 'You' Season 3 arrive in October

Superb acting performances heighten the drama, particularly from Lee, who makes Gi-hun irresistibly likable despite his many flaws. All of the characters undergo enormous trauma and transformation, and the actors rise to the challenge of portraying believable emotions in an unbelievable setting.

A big part of the series' success lies in its dramatic and eye-catching aesthetic. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk paints the surreal, colorful world of the deadly games like the backdrop of a video game, all exaggerated shapes and sizes and harsh edges that evoke pixels. Juxtaposed against the gray, gloomy streets of Seoul, where many of the characters reside, there's a feeling that the players have crossed over into Oz when they enter the game.

What makes it so well-suited for binge-watching is how well Hwang uses pacing and cliffhangers to make the series absurdly addictive. More than almost any original Netflix series, the endings of each episode seduce you into clicking "next episode." Each is nearly a full hour, but they never feel bloated or boring, like many streaming series do these days. The series is certainly disturbing, although its violence and gore never reaches the bloody levels of "The Walking Dead," instead relying on an insidious psychological horror that wraps its tentacles around you.

Trying to predict the next streaming sensation can be a fool's errand in the current era of television, but there is real delight in finding something without A-list stars, huge marketing budgets or the typical trappings of "prestige" TV that connects with so many people. "Squid" may be so popular because we're in a distinctly bleak moment in history, but connection over something disquieting is better than no connection at all.

And don't worry, no actual squids were harmed during filming.

Discount Codes

‘Squid Game’ review: child’s play turns deadly in a cutting critique of late-stage capitalism

Desperate and drowning in debt, 456 people risk their lives in a mysterious survival competition for the chance to win ₩45.6billion

F rom Hollywood’s The Hunger Games to Japan’s Battle Royale , plenty of cinematic endeavours have explored survival games. Filmmakers typically couch these narratives in dystopian contexts, relying on totalitarian governments (or other fictional institutions) to account for the existence of such brutal competitions. Netflix’s Squid Game , however, eschews a futuristic or fantasy setting because the world we’re living in already feels like a dystopia of injustice and inequity. And after decades of watching ordinary folks willingly compete in demeaning reality shows for fame and riches, viewers no longer require outlandish explanations for the humiliations of this subgenre.

Directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, Squid Game takes place in contemporary Seoul where 456 struggling strangers are invited to participate in a mysterious survival competition. The competition consists of a series of traditional South Korean children’s games, but with deadly twists. The winner stands to win a hefty ₩45.6billion, while the losers will be executed. We first follow Ki-hoon (Lee Jung-jae), a sad-sack middle-aged man brought low by retrenchment, business failures, divorce, and a gambling addiction. Faced with an ill mother in need of surgery, the prospect of losing his daughter, and threatening debt collectors, Ki-hoon sees the shady competition as his only hope out of despair. He’s picked up, drugged and brought to a secret island compound by masked guards in hazmat suits.

Once the terrifying games begin, we’re introduced to a whole host of other people in similarly dire straits. From exploited Pakistani migrant worker Ali (Tripati Anupam) who hasn’t been paid in months, to North Korean defector Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon) who lost her savings to smugglers, every character we meet feels like they’re backed into a corner in the real world. Ki-hoon is even surprised to find his childhood friend Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) a fellow contestant, a man who he assumed was a successful businessman, but is secretly bankrupt due to disastrous investments in the securities market.

As desperate as these people are, after the first round of “Red Light, Green Light” leads to over half the field dying, the rest rethink their options. The masked organisers give the contestants a democratic choice: if the majority of them vote to leave, the games will be cancelled. By the slimmest of margins, the competitors choose to (and are allowed) to go home. But once back in the real world, they are smacked down once again by their financial woes. Amazingly, their renewed hopelessness drives most of them to voluntarily re-enter the competition. The only good news is these suspicious goings-on have attracted the attention of a police detective, who seeks to infiltrate the games to find his missing brother.

Therein lies the genius of Hwang Dong-hyuk’s allegory: the illusion of free will and fairness in a rigged system. The faceless elites (literally, in Squid Game’s case) who run the game understand that these poor people never really had a choice, and that their stations in life leave them vulnerable to the whims of the rich and powerful, compelled to compete by forces beyond their control. By juxtaposing the innocence of these childish games with the insidious belief that ceaseless, cutthroat competition is the only way modern adults can survive, Squid Game presents a potent microcosm of capitalist society.

Thematic intelligence aside, Squid Game is also a white-knuckle watch, thanks to its visceral competition element. The twists, rules and set-ups of the games are finely calibrated to elicit maximum tension and excitement. But it’s the politicking among the contestants that offers the series’ most riveting moments, as we watch transactional alliances and genuine friendships form, only to fall apart in the face of cold-blooded strategy and cruel betrayals in this every-man-for-himself scenario. The contestants we follow range from the strong and frail, to the ruthless and compassionate, and everything in between – setting up fascinating dynamics where viewers are never really sure who to root for through any given round.

The show’s sharp social critiques, suspenseful competition and sympathetic characters remain largely enthralling throughout. Yet, once Squid Game reaches its conclusion to reveal its puppeteers, its plot points become predictable and the series’ messaging becomes too blunt and didactic. And thanks to an overlong and unsatisfying epilogue culminating with a silly final twist, the series unfortunately stumbles and limps across the finish line. Nevertheless, Squid Game’s pastel-hued perversion of youthful nostalgia does more than enough to keep us invested and hopeful for a potential second season.

Squid Game is now streaming on Netflix

Related Topics

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun (456); Park Hae-soo as Cho Sang-woo (218); Jung Ho-yeon as Kang Sae-byeok (067); O Yeong-su as Oh Il-nam (001); Heo Sung-tae as Jang Deok-su (101); Anupam Tripathi as Abdul Ali (199); Kim Joo-ryoung as Han Mi-nyeo (212); Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho

TV Series Review

Child’s play.

That’s what folks sometimes say if they’re faced with a not-too-daunting task: a pop quiz on simple addition, or fixing a meal where everyone just wants dry cereal. Child’s play is generally something as inconsequential as a game of Candyland , as understandable as tug-of-war. Easy-peasy.

I’m not sure if the phrase child’s play is popular in South Korea. But if it is, Seong Gi-hun will never associate it with easy .

See, Gi-hun and a handful of other desperate South Koreans are playing children’s games such as tug-of-war and Red Light, Green Light. They’re playing them as if their very lives depended on winning.

And they do.

Tag, You’re Dead!

You could say that Gi-hun is a contestant on a game show with a very exclusive audience. He signed up voluntarily, hoping to pay off some astronomical debts—thus keeping his 10-year-old daughter in Korea and all of his organs in the right place.

He didn’t realize that he was competing in a contest with extraordinarily high stakes. He didn’t know that if he lost a game, he’d be killed—shot or stabbed or crushed to death. (Or that, in death, he might lose all his organs anyway.)

I should say, he didn’t realize these things the first time he signed up. When more than half of his fellow contestants were slaughtered in a brutal game of Red Light, Green Light, he realized the stakes. But when he and his fellow contestants/captives had a chance to end the game and go back to their normal, debt-ridden lives, most come back . They’re desperate. All, like Gi-hun, are willing to gamble their lives to play these children’s games and win, perhaps, a whole lot of money and new futures for themselves.

Kang Sae-byeok, meanwhile, is a North Korean defector who desperately wants to free the rest of her family. Cho Sang-woo—an investment banker and an old friend of Gi-hun’s—needs the cash to repay the clients he swindled and to clear his name in the courts. Abdul Ali is a foreign worker whose employer bilked him out of his wages; now he’s playing to feed his family. Oh Il-nam says he suffers from a brain tumor; he’d rather die playing kids’ games than suffer a long, agonizing end in bed.

They’re far from the only contestants, of course. Hundreds begin the game, only to be whittled down day by day, game by game. Fitting that they’re known as much by their numbers as their names: 218. 067. 199. 456.

That’s Gi-hun’s number, by the way—456. He was the last contestant to get in. He hopes to be the last player standing, too. He’ll be far richer, technically, if he survives. But by watching all those deaths and perhaps encouraging a few, wouldn’t he be spiritually poorer, too?

Child’s play indeed.

Red Light, Red Light

Netflix’s Squid Game isn’t just a TV show. It’s a global phenomenon—on target, some say, to become the streaming giant’s most-watched series ever. And, like Gi-hun himself, you could say that Squid Game is a bit of an underdog story.

It’s a South Korean product, first of all—an unlikely candidate to become Netflix’s No. 1 show in an astounding 90 countries (including the United States and Great Britain.) Yes, Korean entertainment is definitely having a moment in the Western world (what with K-pop groups filling earbuds everywhere and films such as Parasite scoring buckets of Oscars). But Netflix didn’t market the show heavily outside South Korea, which means that it’s been growing mostly through word of mouth.

Also, the show is incredibly violent, which you’d think would cut into (so to speak) the potential audience. Britain’s Daily Mail asked, “Is this the most twisted series on TV?” Writes Rebecca Onion for Slate :

This is not a show for viewers who dislike seeing people shot at close range (or stabbed, or killed by falling from a height, and so on). There are literally hundreds of such deaths in the show’s nine episodes, with a bonus dissection scene, if what you really crave is to see some intestines.

Squid Game isn’t just violent: It’s dark —as black and grim as some of its interiors are candy-colored pink and green. People lie and cheat and betray each other here, often indirectly killing folks even if they don’t actually pull the trigger. Out-of-game murder is condoned and even encouraged, too: The fewer people who get to the next round, no matter the reason, the more the winning pot grows. While we do see kindness and cooperation and even some sacrifice here, the games feed the worst instincts of its players (many of whom are, truth be told, not great people to begin with).

If the game was designed to test just how much goodness is left in humanity (as someone suggests in an episode), most of the contestants fail, and fail spectacularly.

And we haven’t even gotten to the language or nudity or suicides or the gambling or—well, surely you get the point now.

It’s funny: Shows like these are often designed to get viewers thinking about our amoral, voyeuristic society—the horrors of people watching other people die for their pleasure. And yet, couldn’t you argue that that’s what Squid Game itself does? If the game wasn’t as bloody, as horrific, would anyone watch?

Episode Reviews

Sept. 17, 2021: “red light, green light”.

Underemployed driver Seong Gi-hun needs cash in the worst way. So he steals some money from his mother’s bank account and bets it on the horses. Believe it or not, he wins. But before he can spend a single won from his winnings, it’s gone—pilfered by a clever pickpocket. Bad timing, too: Gi-hun runs into some shady characters to whom he’s in debt. The leader tells him that if Gi-hun doesn’t have his money in a month, they’ll start removing his organs. Even worse: Gi-hun doesn’t have the money to take his 10-year-old daughter out for a nice birthday dinner or give her a good present. But then, at the end of a very long day, he meets a stranger who offers an unusual opportunity.

Gi-hun mistakes the man for a Christian evangelist at first. “I don’t believe in Jesus,” Gi-hun says. “I come from a very long line of Buddhists, so find another guy to preach to.” But the man is offering something much different than eternal salvation. He wants Gi-hun to play a game with him. Every time Gi-hun wins, he’ll get 100,000 won (about $85). Every time he loses, the stranger gets to slap him.

Gi-hun is slapped dozens of times before he eventually gets 100,000 won , but the game opens up an invitation to another game—or rather series of games. When Gi-hun belatedly accepts, he’s ushered into a van in which gas is pumped in, knocking him and the other passengers out. When he arrives at an unknown location, he’s in a massive barracks with hundreds of other players—all of whom played the same game and most of whom are just as in debt as Gi-hun.

The first game on the six-game docket is Red Light, Green Light, moderated by a giant creepy robot. The contestants quickly learn that if anyone’s still moving once the robot says “red light,” they’ll be shot and killed. Literally hundreds of contestants die. We see bullets hit and blood fly, and scores of people are killed trying to claw their way out of the arena.

Violence makes an appearance elsewhere, too. Loan sharks punch and rough up Gi-hun and bloody his nose (threatening to shove a pick into his nostrils) and make him put a fingerprint on a contract in his own blood. (The chief assailant wipes some blood from Gi-hun’s face, licks it and suggests he’ll make soup with more of it if Gi-hun doesn’t pay up.) The slapping game with the stranger leaves Gi-hun’s face red and bruised. Two other contestants get into a fight in the barracks, with a man punching, kicking and pulling the hair of the victimized woman.

The woman (a pickpocket) has a history with an assailant, telling him that he “took more from me than I could possibly owe.” We learn that almost everyone in the barracks is dealing with a ridiculous amount of debt—often accumulated through gambling or other shady decisions. Gi-hun is clearly willing to steal in order to feed his own gambling habit.

Gi-hun smokes. (He initially tells his daughter that he quit, until she quite literally sniffs him out.) Someone drinks a glass of liquor as he watches hundreds of people die on a TV screen. Characters say the s-word at least 10 times. We also hear (via English dubbing) “a–,” “b–ch,” “b–tard,” “d–n” and “h—.” God’s name is paired with “d—n” four times, and we hear Jesus’ name abused once.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Latest Reviews

A Gentleman in Moscow

Essentially, A Gentleman in Moscow is about what you’d expect from other period dramas. However, that doesn’t mean it gets a perfect score.

The Wingfeather Saga

Though perhaps too intense for the youngest of viewers, Angel Studios’ Wingfeather Saga offers a strong story beautifully told.

Renegade Nell

This swashbuckling adventure can’t decide who it’s for or what kind of story it wants to tell.

Sugar, the name of Apple TV+’s film noir drama, might sound sweet. But this series starring Colin Farrell has an acrid bite.

Weekly Reviews Straight to your Inbox!

THE MOVIE CULTURE

Netflix’s Squid Game Series Review & Summary(2021)

Squid Game is a South Korean television series streaming on Netflix. It is a survival drama Written and directed by Hwang Dong Hyuk. The series, distributed by Netflix , was released worldwide on September 17, 2021 and has a count of 9 episodes.

Squid Game Series Plot

The series revolves around Seong Gi-hun, a divorced and indebted chauffeur, who is invited to play a series of children’s games for a chance earning a large cash prize. When he accepts the offer, he is taken to an unknown location where he finds himself among 455 other players who are also deeply in debt.

The players are made to wear green tracksuits and are kept under watch at all times by masked guards in pink jumpsuits. The games are overseen by the Front Man, who wears a black mask and black uniform. The players soon discover that losing the games results in their death, with each death adding 100 million to the potential 45.6 billion grand prizes. Gi-hun allies with other players, including his childhood friend Cho Sang-woo, to try to survive the physical and psychological twists of the games.

Squid Game Series Characters

Main characters.

Lee Jung-Jae as Seong Gi-hun (A chauffeur and a gambling addict, he lives with his mother and struggles to support his daughter financially.)
Park Hae-soo as Cho Sang-woo (The head of the investment team at a securities company, he is junior to Gi-hun and was a gifted student who studied at Seoul National University, but is now wanted by the police for stealing money from his clients.)
Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho (A police officer who sneaks into the Game as a guard to find his missing brother)
Jung Ho-yeon as Kang Sae-byeok (A North Korean defector who enters the Game to pay for a broker to find and retrieve her surviving family members who are still across the border)
O Yeong-su as Oh Il-nam (An elderly man with a brain tumor who prefers playing the Game as opposed to waiting to die in the outside world.)
Heo Sung-tae as Jang Deok-su (A gangster who enters the Game to settle his massive gambling debts.)
Anupam Tripathi as Abdul Ali (A foreign worker from Pakistan, who enters the Game to provide for his young family after his employer, refuses to pay him for months.)
Kim Joo-ryoung as Han Mi-nyeo (mysterious and manipulative woman who claims to be a poor single mother.)

Supporting Characters

Yoo Sung-joo as Byeong-gi, a doctor who secretly works with a group of corrupt guards to traffic the organs of dead participants in exchange for information on upcoming games.
Lee Sang-hee as Player 017, a glass-maker with more than 30 years’ experience.
Kim Yun-tae as Player 069, a player who joins the Game with his wife, Player 070.
Lee Ji-Ha as Player 070, a player who joins the Game with her husband, Player 069.
Kwak Ja-hyoung as Player 278, a player who joins Deok-su’s group and acts as his henchman.
Chris Chan as Player 276, a player who joins Seong Gi-hun’s group in the Tug of war round.
Lee Yoo-mi as Ji-yeong as player 240

Squid Game Series Review

Only one word can be used to describe SQUID GAME…INTENSE. The entire show is on an entirely new level. Every episode from the first to the last just keeps you on the edge of your seats in anticipation.

Squid Game follows the genre of a survival drama and these types of dramas are always said to be one of the best types among all. The difference here is that Squid Game takes this genre of survival to such a point that it makes it look like an entire new type of survival drama. That is one of the main points of Squid Game that makes it so unique.

The entire story of Squid Game is based on a realistic approach and a pragmatic look into the real world. In this 21 st century world, the term of being in monetary debt is so very common that it can be seen in almost every other place. The people who are in such situations tend to usually have a mindset where they are ready to do anything to get out of their debts. This fact is shown very well in the series. All the participants of the game are people who are in so much debt that they had seen the games as a way to get out of their debts. After the end of the first game where they finally realized the fact that all those who lost the game would be faced with death, they had the option to choose not to play the rest of the games. Yet a vast number of people still chose to continue when they saw the huge amount of money they would get if they won. Even the people who votes not to continue the games found themselves willingly returning just for the reason that they found no other option to get out of their debts. These points in the show portray the harsh reality of the world of being in debt. Sometimes people who are in debt can find themselves willing to do just anything to get a respite from their situation, even if that option is being a willing participant of a death game.

The world is full of misery and sometimes the option of playing of playing a death game to earn money is better than continuing to live in the same way as always. This chance of getting out that misery, even if it is through a death game, is much better than living in a stagnated lifestyle with no way out. This concept is shown spectacularly in the entire show.

All the characters in the show have profound back-stories. Each of the major characters has their own inner demons that they are fighting with daily while playing the game. This can be seen in their actions during the games. Our protagonist Gi-hun is seen as a jolly kind of guy who despite having an irresponsible lifestyle still has a sense of kindness and morale ethics.

Every other character has their own personalities that clash perfectly with the others. The old man is seen to be just wanting to play the games for fun while Cho- Sang woo is willing to do anything to survive and win the game even if that goes against his moral compass. This is seen during the fourth game with his interaction and conclusion with Ali.

Ali can be considered as one of the most lovable characters just because of his kind personality and the way he seems to adore Cho Sang woo as an older brother figure. Another major character would be Sae-Byeok with her drive to win the game so that she can live with her brother and bring her mother back from North Korea.

Even the characters like Jang- Deok su and Han Mi-Nyeo, who are seen as people willing to go the lowest of the low to win can be understood as there are actually people in this world who are ready to do anything to win. From envy, hate, love, greed, lust, passion, admiration, regret and a lot more, this entire show brings out every innermost part of being a human being to life

The most unique part of Squid Game is that it focuses on children games. Everyone has to participate in games that they used play when they were kids in order to win with only the harsh reality being that instead of a penalty, they would be eliminated permanently. This dark element to the games showcases a type of psychotic mindset of the organizer of these games.

Even if the participants are given the option to choose to play, the very nature of the games where losing leads to death is a concept no ordinary person with morale would create. With the fact being that all the games are those everyone used to play as kids, it portrays a level of mental depth so deep that it can actually be understood on some level despite the dark element in it. This is what makes Squid Game such a unique yet majestic show.

Yes, the entire show is indeed a most amazing piece of work.

Squid Game Series Critical Response

Squid Game has a rating of 8.2/10 on IMDb based on 201925 reviews. It has a rating of 4.2/5 on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11k reviews.

The Movie Culture Synopsis

If you want a series that always keeps you on your toes and is filled with every type of element necessary in a survival drama, then this is it. Squid Game is a show that would have a permanent place in the most unforgettable shows ever category. To conclude, A Glorious Show indeed.

You may have missed

TMC Exclusives
TMC Originals

Yuta Okkotsu’s Domain Expansion Explained: Authentic Mutual Love – Jujutsu Kaisen Manga

Top 101 Movies of All Time: As per IMDb ratings

Why we all love the Kung Fu Panda Franchise

Uncategorized

Leave the World Behind: Ending Explained

HILITE NEWS HAS BEEN NAMED A NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION ONLINE PACEMAKER FINALIST
HILITE NEWS HAS BEEN NAMED THE HOOSIER STAR WINNER FOR NEWS SITE
HILITE NEWS HAS BEEN NAMED A COLUMBIA SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION GOLD CROWN WINNER

Students should wear more comfortable clothes to school

Review: "Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie," departure from original show [MUSE]

Raining on Prom Night? Here are places to take prom photos in case of inclement weather this Saturday

Review: "Next in Fashion" season two survives changes, becomes a valuable pop culture artifact [MUSE]

Review: Is The Stormlight Archive worth it? [MUSE]

Online Only

MOVIE REVIEW: Squid Game

SPOILER ALERT AHEAD

“Do you still have trust in people?”

Hwang Dong-hyuk ’s Squid Game delves into all aspects of human nature, focusing on new bonds of friendship and the tenacity of trust. The 9 episode Netflix original, starring HoYeon Jung and Lee Jung-jae rose quickly to popularity after its release on September 17, 2021.

The plot centered around a very attractive cast (I live for the edits) and the way they grow, bond and falter through a series of life or death games. Perhaps the reason why the show attracted so many fans was due to its character’s questionable actions. The acting and the games themselves definitely put this series on the must-watch list.

In case you haven’t watched it (I would say go watch it and finish this review afterwards) this is your spoiler alert.

Even critics of the movie (of which there are surprisingly many) must admit it is a great pass time. The plot starts with the main characters stuck in places of high poverty, debt and terrible conditions. From there, the show often shifts pace, slowing down and focusing on the characters and then speeding up to a gory fast-paced game. During the first game I have to admit I was shocked by the change in dynamic. Unfortunately if you were expecting a constantly engaging type of show, I have to admit Squid Game falls a little short. At times, the action drew out to the point where I skipped through the scene. But mostly, my eyes were glued to the screen the whole time, except for the moments I spent sobbing (this happened more often than I would like to admit).

Let’s start with my personal favorite part— the acting. Not once did I question the validity of the actors or actresses (meaning they didn’t give me TikTok vibes). They expressed the emotions expected and kept me longing for more. Even the worst characters with the most complicated personalities were portrayed in ways that made me pity them. Cho Sang-Woo, who killed not one but two of my favorite characters, had me empathizing with the way he was feeling and crying for his mother after his death. My only wish was that these characters had more time developing the relations between them and their own individual personalities. The hardest deaths for me were from the characters that weren’t featured as heavily and whose relationships were basically neglected.

However, there were definitely areas where I was not as enamored with the show as I would have liked to have been. The final game, for one, dragged on for far too long with far too predictable an outcome (but who am I to judge?). In all fairness Netflix has started to put out some incredible short series and this is definitely one of them.

The series definitely had me questioning all aspects of trust, faith and love, especially as I bawled my eyes out over characters I barely knew or flinched at the almost obscene images. The show certainly picked a good time to air, with a lot of talent and a little luck making it one of the most popular shows to date. But this isn’t really a surprise, as audiences of Squid Game know that “ Good rain knows the best time to fall.”

Review: “Mysterious Lotus Casebook” is an amazing historical Chinese drama [MUSE] While I don’t consider myself a Chinese drama connoisseur by any means—given my ventures into the genre have generally been few and far between, encompassing mostly family recommendations and popular fandoms—my interest in “Mysterious Lotus Casebook” (or 莲花楼) was piqued…
Review: “Ginny & Georgia” is a dramatic and poorly made emotional rollercoaster–and I loved it anyway [MUSE] Spoiler warning: This review contains information regarding seasons one and two of “Ginny and Georgia.” When I was sick with Covid back in December, I cycled through a remarkably impressive array of bad television shows, chief among them being “Ginny…
Review: “To Your Eternity” perfectly encapsulated the struggles, the memories, the people we meet in life [MUSE] “It” is a white orb of otherworldly power. Cast onto earth, “It” imitates the form of a rock and stays buried under snow for thousands of years, until an injured lone wolf stumbles near it and dies. Finally, “It” gains…
moview review
Saumya Somasi
Issues Archive
HiLite Editorial Policy

Comments (0)

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Making Squid Game: The Challenge

Purna Biswa (Self - Player 031) Nicola Brown (Self - Executive Producer) Phill Cain (Self - Player 451) Bryton Constantin (Self - Player 432) Jack Dewsbery (Self - Construction Manager) Hwang Dong-hyuk (Self - Creator of Squid Game) Jessica Figueroa (Self - Player 033) Riki Finlay (Self - Costume Designer) Luke Fuller (Self - Art Director) Tim Harcourt (Self - Executive Producer)

David Mendez

Go behind the scenes and witness how the "Squid Game"-inspired reality show transformed from a scripted drama to a cutthroat, nail-biting competition.

Recommendations

Action/Adventure
Children's/Family
Documentary/Reality
Amazon Prime Video

More From Decider

'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' at 10: The Movie That Made (and...

Joy Behar Says She Was "Dragged Into" Controversy Over Beyoncé's 'Jolene'...

Guy Fieri Calls Drew Barrymore "Gangster" For Talking With Her "Mouth Full...

Anna Paquin Shuts Down Hoda Kotb's Questions About Her Health On 'Today'...

'9-1-1' And 'The Bachelor' Crossover: Joey Graziadei And Jesse Palmer Make...

Holly Madison Names “Major Movie Stars” Who Started As Exotic Dancers...

'The View's Whoopi Goldberg Blasts Republicans For "Stupid" Question...

R.I.P. Chance Perdomo: ‘Gen V’ & ‘Chilling Adventures Of...

‘Game Of Thrones’ Star Joseph Gatt Files $40 Million Lawsuit After Los Angeles County Brands Him As “Serial Pedophile”

Where to stream:.

Game of Thrones

‘Vanderpump Rules’ Alum Faith Stowers Sues Bravo For Discrimination And Retaliation, Claims She Was Forced To “Get Intimate” With Lala Kent

Jonathan majors’ ex-girlfriend files lawsuit alleging “pattern of pervasive domestic abuse,” detailing multiple accusations of assault, ‘squid game’ star o yeong-su receives suspended prison sentence for sexual misconduct, ex ‘mandalorian’ star gina carano claims disney and lucasfilm made her attend “reeducation camp” after having a “massive meltdown” over her problematic tweets.

Joseph Gatt , an actor who appeared on Season 4 of Game of Thrones , has filed a whopping $40 million lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department, L.A. District Attorney George Gascón and Deputy District Attorney Angela Brunson nearly two years after he was arrested on false pedophile charges.

According to the suit , which was obtained by DECIDER, Gatt claims the defendants “publicly branded him as a serial pedophile,” which ultimately destroyed his “acting career and personal reputation.” He also alleges that Brunson “sought to destroy him based on nothing more than bias and personal animosity” relating to their differing political views.

The “botched criminal investigation” allegedly stemmed from a 16th birthday message Gatt sent to a teen he later learned was an “obsessed” fan via Cameo. The fan, who is referred to as “Jane Doe” in the complaint, then thanked him on social media, resulting in a “completely innocuous” conversation that was “wholly appropriate and consistent with typical celebrity-fan exchanges.”

However, she allegedly proceeded to “manufacture fake conversations between herself and Gatt via the social media platform Snapchat that were sexual in nature and pure fantasy.” After one of Jane Doe’s older siblings saw the messages and reported them to authorities, Gatt says the defendants “did not even bother to interview [Jane Doe] or even remotely assess for credibility until almost one year after arresting Gatt and prosecuting him.”

He says he was “immediately canceled” following his April 2022 arrest as he was dropped by his agent and public relations team. He was also fired from two movies, recast in another in which he was set to play the lead part and either replaced or cut out of the two films he had already filmed.

But, according to Gatt, his arrest had more to do with politics than the alleged crime.

Gatt adds in the suit that Brunson, like himself, was a member of the high-performance sports car community, unveiling “a previously undisclosed personal connection.” He also says that Brunson knows him for his “liberal political beliefs,” noting that she, one the other hand, “espouses conservative political beliefs that are the polar opposite” of his. Plus, Gatt publicly supported DA Gascón, while Brunson was “a vocal critic” of him.

“Given her political beliefs and Gatt’s reputation as a liberal and a Gascón supporter in their shared community — including his connection to her boyfriend’s employer, WRTeknica — DDA Brunson clearly already held personal animosity toward Gatt at the time this matter was referred to LA County,” the suit reads. “Remarkably, however, DDA Brunson never revealed her personal connections and clear conflicts of interest to the Court, Gatt, or his criminal defense counsel.”

Following the filing, Gatt’s lawyer Dean Pamphilis released a statement to Deadline .

“The arrest and charges against Mr. Gatt — for which he was branded by the Los Angeles DA and LAPD as a serial pedophile — were based on fabricated evidence,” he said. “Twenty months later, when the fabricated evidence was finally disclosed to Mr. Gatt and Mr. Gatt’s forensic expert were prepared to expose the truth in open court, the Los Angeles DA voluntarily dismissed the criminal complaint. Mr. Gatt, however, had already lost his community, his acting career and his personal reputation.”

He concluded, “We look forward to recovering Mr. Gatt’s enormous losses in court.”

Does 'Yellowstone' Return Tonight? The Latest Updates On 'Yellowstone's Season 5, Part 2 Premiere Date

Will There Be A 'Resident Alien' Season 4? What We Know

When Will ‘All American’ Season 6 Arrive On Netflix?

Zooey Deschanel Denies That “Nepotism” Helped Her In Hollywood: “No One’s Getting Jobs Because Their Dad’s A DP”

New Shows & Movies To Watch This Weekend: 'Mary & George' on Starz + More

11 Best New Movies on Netflix: April 2024's Freshest Films to Watch

Cast & crew
User reviews

The Long Game

In 1955, five young Mexican-American caddies, out of the love for the game, were determined to learn how to play, so they created their own golf course in the middle of the South Texas deser... Read all In 1955, five young Mexican-American caddies, out of the love for the game, were determined to learn how to play, so they created their own golf course in the middle of the South Texas desert. In 1955, five young Mexican-American caddies, out of the love for the game, were determined to learn how to play, so they created their own golf course in the middle of the South Texas desert.

Julio Quintana
Paco Farias
Humberto G. Garcia
Dennis Quaid
Jay Hernandez
Gillian Vigman
2 User reviews
6 Critic reviews

Frank Mitchell

Gayle Baker

Joe Trevino

Daniela Torres

Alice Glenn

Gene Vasquez

Eugene Patterson

Mario Lomas
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

Trivia In March of 1921, the Twelfth Calvary Regiment voted to form a country club which became the San Felipe Country Club. The San Felipe Country Club included a nine-hole golf course that is located on the San Felipe Springs. This was the first course built by John Bredemus who went on to design many notable courses such as the Colonial in Fort Worth, TX. In 2016, the City of Del Rio took over the golf course and renamed it to the San Felipe Springs Golf Course.
How long will The Long Game be? Powered by Alexa
April 12, 2024 (United States)
United States
Colombia (on location)
Endeavor Content
Fifth Season
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 46 minutes

More to explore

Screen Rant

The beautiful game review: netflix’s worthy sports drama reminds us why the homeless world cup matters.

Top Boy's Micheal Ward is the MVP in Netflix's entertaining sports drama that deftly balances worthy messaging with humor and compelling characters.

The Beautiful Game brings the message of unity through football, highlighting global homelessness issues.
Micheal Ward shines as a complex lead, showcasing the importance of second chances in The Beautiful Game.
The film avoids sports movie clichés, focusing on authentic human stories of resilience and redemption.

Netflix's new sports movie, The Beautiful Game , could not have come at a better time in relation to English football. Last week, in the lead up to England's match against Brazil, controversy emerged over Nike's decision to change the color of the St George's cross on the English national team's shirt. Nike's design decision — which was in no way exclusive to the England shirt — led to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and leader of the opposition Kier Starmer publicly opposing the change, climaxing in a poorly attended protest march through London on the day of the Brazil game.

Based on a real-life sporting event, The Beautiful Game is a movie directed by Thea Sharrock and released in 2024. Bill Nighy stars as Mal, a coach who guides a group of homeless football players to the Homeless World Cup, where he hopes to lead them to victory and help them find the beauty within themselves.

The Beautiful Game nicely captures the diversity of the sport
The film is grounded by Michael Ward's excellent performance
The story is heartfelt and touching
The Beautiful Game can feel like a long commercial

The Beautiful Game releases against this backdrop of empty nationalistic posturing to remind us what football (soccer for American viewers) is really all about. The Beautiful Game depicts football as a universal language, breaking down national barriers rather than erecting them. The film depicts England's attempts to win the Homeless World Cup , which are both helped and hindered by star player Vinny (Micheal Ward) as he struggles to accept his situation. While the story is fictional, it was made in collaboration with the Homeless World Cup, and its theme of second chances is inspired by real-life stories of former players.

The first Homeless World Cup took place in Ganz, Austria in 2003, and its 2024 tournament will take place in Seoul, South Korea.

The Beautiful Game Brings The Homeless World Cup's Message To A Global Audience

Writer Frank Cottrell Boyce deftly weaves the mission statement of the Homeless World Cup into the narrative, selecting four teams that highlight the different global definitions of homelessness. While the England team is the primary focus, we're introduced to the US team via Rosita (Cristina Rodlo), an undocumented teenager who is a prospective Dreamers scholar. And then there's the more mature Japanese team, who reflect the overwhelming number of middle-aged and elderly men experiencing homelessness in Japan. South Africa, meanwhile, is delayed by their own border forces due to objection to a migrant from Zimbabwe being on their national team.

The glimpses into the backstories of the other teams reflect these different global communities with economy and empathy.

Boyce never creates anything larger than these sketches of the homeless experience, but he doesn't have to. The glimpses into the other teams' backstories reflect these different global communities with economy and empathy. The stories of the England team are similarly diverse, encompassing addiction issues, the failures of the UK care system, and statelessness. And then there's Vinny, a struggling father, estranged from his daughter and her mother, who refuses to see himself as homeless, despite living in his car. Vinny's journey to recognize his circumstances and accept the friendship and help of others becomes more important than any trophy.

The Beautiful Game

Many former Homeless World Cup players also appear in The Beautiful Game , emphasizing the positive impact that the competition has had on their lives. This adds an extra layer of authenticity, which is aided by a script that, for the most part, avoids some of the biggest clichés of the sports movie genre . That being said, a last minute revelation about the link between England coach Mal ( Bill Nighy ) and star player Vinny threatens to score an own goal. It's a clunky twist that mercifully provides a touching epilogue rather than becoming a driver for the movie's climactic scenes.

Micheal Ward Is The Beautiful Game's Man Of The Match

Given that Thea Sharrock's directing often feels quite televisual, there's a risk that the movie comes across as a feature-length commercial for the Homeless World Cup. However, Top Boy 's Micheal Ward lends the film a great deal of dramatic heft that helps lift The Beautiful Game above such criticisms. Vinny is a complicated character, veering from cold and stand-offish to outright cruel. His disgust at sharing a room with recovering heroin addict Nathan (Callum Scott Howells) builds to Vinny doing something so uncaring that it has major implications for his team.

Micheal Ward and Bill Nighy's understated performances create a fascinating dynamic that feels quite new for a sports movie.

Played by Callum Scott Howells, who broke the hearts of audiences as It's A Sin 's Colin , does similarly devastating work here, which threatens to completely turn the audience against Vinny. However, Ward's quiet portrayal of Vinny's guilt over his actions is the first moment that we see the cracks in his armor. Vinny's armor draws comparisons with the avuncular front that his manager Mal puts up. Both men have similarly adopted a facade to hide their simmering resentments and bitter disappointments. Ward and Bill Nighy's understated performances create a fascinating dynamic that feels quite new for a sports movie.

Nighy isn't convincing as a football manager with a vicious temper, but he shines in the moments where Mal has to deliver learning moments to an angry and unpredictable Vinny. While Nighy and Ward are the standouts, their team is bolstered by some other strong performances. In addition to Howells, there's Kit Young as Cal, who provides a fascinating contrast to Vinny, which causes antagonism at first but mellows into a fruitful partnership on the pitch. Robin Nazari's Syrian refugee Aldar and Sheyi Cole's Jason prove to be the team's head and heart, each getting their own moments to shine.

Threatening to steal the show from everyone, however, is Susan Wokoma, who plays South African coach Protasia. The fact that this cheery and charismatic woman of God has a fierce rivalry with Nighy's Mal is the perfect demonstration of the Homeless World Cup's uniqueness. It's truly a competition that is open to people from all backgrounds, creating a truly equal playing field. While The Beautiful Game can often feel like a commercial for an admittedly noble cause, the script and performances deliver a relatable human story of dashed dreams and second chances that reminds us why such charities are vital.

The Beautiful Game is available to stream on Netflix March 29.

Supported by

‘The Beautiful Game’ Review: A Different Kind of World Cup

This heart-string-tugging Netflix movie about a homeless soccer team, featuring Bill Nighy and Micheal Ward, puts the emphasis on play and uplift.

Share full article

Micheal Ward, in a jean jacket and blue T-shirt, stands near Bill Nighy, in sunglasses and a black zip-up jacket, on a soccer field.

By Glenn Kenny

It’s moderately surprising that it’s taken filmmakers two decades to concoct a heart-string-tugging underdog story out of the annual coed sport event known as the Homeless World Cup , a weeklong international competition featuring homeless soccer players.

Directed by Thea Sharrock and written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, “The Beautiful Game” is an upbeat, amiable picture that, as its title suggests, puts the sport in front. Which isn’t to say the conditions of the players are ignored. Nathan (Callum Scott Howells), a recovering addict, has a particularly tough time. But the emphasis is on play and uplift. The sunny climes of Rome, where the tournament in the movie is set, help sell it.

The great Bill Nighy plays Mal, the coordinator and coach for England’s team, who one afternoon spots Vinny (Micheal Ward) giving pointers to some younger players. Vinny’s got talent, but Mal seems to recognize more in him. Mal also correctly guesses that Vinny’s more or less living out of his car.

The writer, Boyce, is known for more adventurous fare than this (see “ Tristram Shandy ,” from 2006), but this is a more conventional story. Here, Boyce steers around some clichés, but not others. For example, when Ellie (Jessye Romeo), Vinny’s ever-disappointed former partner, tells him to admit that he’s not going to be able to attend their daughter’s school event, rather than prevaricating, Vinny does just that, proudly proclaiming that he’ll go to Rome despite his initial resistance to Mal’s pitch.

Peppered with funny and inspiring moments, like the charming way the South African team gets a makeup game after being held up at their airport, “The Beautiful Game” is a model of a modern “nice” movie.

The Beautiful Game Rated PG-13 for language, themes. Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes. Watch on Netflix .

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig have wound in and out of each other’s lives and careers for decades. Now they are both headlining an Apple TV+ comedy of wealth and status .

Nicholas Galitzine, known for playing princes and their modern equivalents, hopes his steamy new drama, “Mary & George,” will change how Hollywood sees him .

Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth met while filming “Fargo” in 2017. Now married, they have reunited onscreen in “A Gentleman in Moscow.”

A reboot of “Gladiators,” the musclebound 1990s staple, has attracted millions of viewers in Britain. Is appointment television back ?

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime and Hulu to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Best Shows on Netflix
Best Movies on Netflix
F1 Live Stream
Stranger Things Season 5
Best New Movies
Most Popular Movies on Netflix
Best Shows on Disney+
UFC Live Stream
Best Movies on Disney+
Entertainment

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

NC State vs Purdue live stream: Can you watch for free?

Seeking to become the first ever 11 seed to advance to the national championship, NC State takes on Zach Edey and No. 1 seed Purdue today at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

Is There a Free NC State vs Purdue Live Stream?

Other ways to watch the nc state vs purdue live stream, watch the nc state vs purdue live stream from abroad.

Either way, it’s going to be the first title game in a very long time for someone, as Purdue hasn’t been in a national final since 1969, while the Wolfpack haven’t been there since their Cinderella run to a championship in 1983.

This Final Four game is about to start, at 6:09 p.m. ET, and it will be televised on TBS in the United States. But if you don’t have cable and want to watch March Madness online, we have a number of different ways you can watch a live stream of Purdue vs NC State for free or cheap.

Feyenoord vs Ajax live stream: Can you watch for free?
LAFC vs LA Galaxy live stream: Can you watch for free?
Roma vs Lazio live stream: Can you watch for free?

There are two live-TV streaming services that include TBS and come with a free trial: YouTube TV (“Base Plan”) and DirecTV Stream (“Entertainment” package or above).

Both of these will let you watch for five days before you either cancel or pay for your first month. That means that if you sign up for one of them, you can watch both Final Four games today and Monday’s national championship (all three games are on TBS), then cancel your subscription without needing to pay anything.

Another free option is the March Madness Live app or website, which streams every game of the tournament. Note that you’ll eventually need to sign in with a cable provider to watch this way, but if you’ve never watched anything on here before, you’ll get to stream unrestricted for three hours before you have to sign in. That should be more than enough time to at least watch Purdue vs NC State without a cable log-in.

If you’ve exhausted all of your free trials, there are some pretty cheap live-stream options, too.

Both Final Four games and the national championships will stream live on Max, which costs just $10 per month. With this option, you’ll also be able to watch any NBA on TNT game, so that’s a nice added bonus with the playoffs coming up in a couple of weeks.

An underrated option is Sling TV ‘s “Sling Orange” channel package. It includes both TBS and ESPN, and it’ll run you just $20 for your first month ($40 per month after that). That means that if you take free trials out of the equation, this is far and away the cheapest way to watch both the men’s (TBS) and women’s (ESPN) Final Four and national championship.

If you’re in a country with no way to watch Purdue vs NC State, you can combine a virtual private network (VPN) with one of the aforementioned streaming services. All of those services are restricted by location to US-only, but a VPN can get you around those restrictions by hiding your IP address and connecting you digitally to a server in the United States.

There are plenty of good VPN’s you can choose from, but NordVPN is our top choice. It’s fast, reliable and works with YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling and Max. It doesn’t come with a free trial, but you can still try it out risk-free thanks to their 30-day money-back guarantee.

Editors' Recommendations

UConn vs Alabama live stream: Can you watch for free?
Inter Miami vs Colorado live stream: Can you watch for free?
Athletic Club vs Mallorca live stream: Can you watch for free?
March Madness live stream 2024: Watch both Final Four games
Warriors vs Rockets live stream: Can you watch for free?

Though the inconsistency of each club this season takes some of the shine off this matchup, it's still always worth watching whenever Chelsea and Manchester United square off.

That'll be the case today when they meet at Stamford Bridge. The match is starting very soon, at 3:15 p.m. ET, and will be televised on USA Network if you're in the United States. There are also a number of different ways you can watch a live stream of the match, including some free options. The Best Way to Watch Chelsea vs Man United

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue their Eastern Conference road-trip with a visit to TD Garden to take on the Boston Celtics. There will be plenty of teams, especially in the West, with something to say about this, but this one could easily be a finals preview.

The game is about to tip off, at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will be televised nationally on ESPN, but if you don't have cable, there are plenty of ways you can watch a live stream of the Thunder vs Celtics game online for free or cheap. The Best Way to Watch the Thunder vs Celtics Live Stream

Manchester City take on Aston Villa in a massive Top-4 Premier League fixture today. Both teams will be desperate for a positive result here, as the Citizens are hoping to keep pace with Liverpool and Arsenal atop the table, while Villa, who haven't played in the top-tier Europe cup since 1982, are barely clinging on to that last Champions League spot.

This one is about to start, at 3:15 p.m. ET, and in the United States it will stream exclusively on Peacock. That unfortunately means there's no way to watch completely free, but it does present a good opportunity to snag one of the more underrated streaming services. Here's everything you need to know to watch City vs Villa. Watch Man City vs Aston Villa on Peacock

COMMENTS

Squid Game: Season 1
Rated: 4/5 Dec 13, 2021 Full Review Jae-Ha Kim Teen Vogue "Squid Game" is a social allegory informed by Korean history. There's more to the game than gambling and violence. There's more to ...
'Squid Game' Review: Netflix's Hit Condemns the Violence It Embraces
This review contains spoilers for the plot and ending of "Squid Game." To American viewers, "Squid Game" may seem to have emerged from nowhere. But it is a pretty unsurprising smash hit.
'Squid Games' Netflix Review: Stream It Or Skip It?
Opening Shot: A black-and-white scene of kids playing a pretty complex game called the "squid game," because the playing field was shaped like a squid. A voice over of a grown up recalls the ...
An Honest Review of Netflix's 'Squid Game'
Squid Game is best watched as a 9-hour long movie so I highly suggest binging multiple episodes at a time. The episodes all vary in length and most end in what feels like the middle of a scene (don't worry, they feel more like cliffhangers and less like frustratingly random breaks). Simply by the structure of the game setup, things become ...
Squid Game review: a winning dystopian tale
Squid Game writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk says he was inspired by Japanese manga such as Battle Royale (2000-05) and Liar Game (2005-15), adapted into, respectively, a film and TV series. But the sinister side of playtime can be traced back to the nightmare hide-and-seek from Dead of Night (1945), The Celestial Toymaker (1966) trapping Doctor Who's companions into playing deadly games of ...
Movie review: 'Squid Game' is worth playing (for the most part)
"Squid Game" is Netflix's most well-watched show to date — for good reason. The prize: 45.6 billion-won ($38 billion). Lee Jung-jae is player 456 Gi-hun, a gambling addict continually ...
'Squid Game': Alan Sepinwall on Netflix's South Korean Sensation
By Alan Sepinwall. October 13, 2021. YOUNGKYU PARK/Netflix. This post contains some spoilers for the first season of Squid Game, available now on Netflix. Red light, green light. Tug of war ...
'Squid Game' review: Netflix's gloriously gory binge-ride from hell
Squid Game begins with introducing us to some of the contestants: Compulsive gambler and chauffeur Seong Gi-Hun (Lee Jung-Jae); Cho Sang-Woo (Park Hae-Soo), a shrewd investment manager who is ...
Squid Game: Season 1 Review
Squid Game is a candy-coated battle royale that thrives on making its players — and audience — squirm. ... All Reviews Editor's Choice Game Reviews Movie Reviews TV Show Reviews Tech Reviews ...
Review: Squid Game's Apocalypse Is Now
Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk's direction and Squid Game 's overall visual design are so striking that images from the series can stand on their own, floating around the internet as pictures ...
'Squid Game': Netflix's Big Hit Tells a Rich Story About Society and
The Premise of 'Squid Game' This 9-episode series follows Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun, a poor man who's living with his mother in South Korea.He has accumulated a large amount of debt, scraping by as a chauffeur. After an awful day of winning and losing a large sum of money, Gi-hun gets an offer from a man in a suit while waiting at a train station.
Squid Game
Upcoming Movies and TV shows ... 95% 76 Reviews Avg. Tomatometer 84% 2,500+ Ratings Avg. Audience Score Hundreds of cash-strapped contestants accept ... Season 1 Unreleased Clip Squid Game: ...
Squid Game Review
Squid Game exists right in the pit of this divide, where 456 desperate individuals attempt to survive six violent interpretations of children's games in the hope of scoring a life-changing 45.6 ...
Squid Game TV Review
Our review: Parents say ( 108 ): Kids say ( 322 ): Though too violent for young teens, there are some moral lessons peeking out behind the lines in this series. In Squid Game, the play between the clownish, down-on-his-luck main character, Gi-hun, and the cold killer behind the game he's lured into creates an intriguing tension.
'Squid Game' review: Why people are obsessed with Korean horror show
The biggest show on Netflix might just be a South Korean horror series with a cephalopod name and a violent, disturbing concept. By now you've probably heard of "Squid Game," a dark social satire ...
Squid Game (TV Series 2021- )
Squid Game: With Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Dylan Besseau, Yasushi Iwaki. Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes: a survival game that has a whopping 45.6 billion-won prize at stake.
'Squid Game' review: child's play turns deadly in a cutting critique of
The competition consists of a series of traditional South Korean children's games, but with deadly twists. The winner stands to win a hefty ₩45.6billion, while the losers will be executed. We ...
Squid Game (TV Series 2021- )
Squid Game is a story about a large group of deeply indebted Korean citizens who willingly take part in a deadly game in the hopes of taking away a massive cash prize at the expense of the other participants' lives. Now, that's all well and good.
Squid Game
Oh Il-nam says he suffers from a brain tumor; he'd rather die playing kids' games than suffer a long, agonizing end in bed. They're far from the only contestants, of course. Hundreds begin the game, only to be whittled down day by day, game by game. Fitting that they're known as much by their numbers as their names: 218. 067. 199. 456.
Netflix's Squid Game Series Review & Summary (2021)
Netflix's Squid Game Series Review & Summary (2021) Squid Game is a South Korean television series streaming on Netflix. It is a survival drama Written and directed by Hwang Dong Hyuk. The series, distributed by Netflix, was released worldwide on September 17, 2021 and has a count of 9 episodes.
MOVIE REVIEW: Squid Game
MOVIE REVIEW: Squid Game. "Do you still have trust in people?". Hwang Dong-hyuk's Squid Game delves into all aspects of human nature, focusing on new bonds of friendship and the tenacity of trust. The 9 episode Netflix original, starring HoYeon Jung and Lee Jung-jae rose quickly to popularity after its release on September 17, 2021.
Watch Squid Game
Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits — with deadly high stakes. Watch trailers & learn more.
Making Squid Game: The Challenge (2023)
Go behind the scenes and witness how the "Squid Game"-inspired reality show transformed from a scripted drama to a cutthroat, nail-biting competition. ... Film Movie Reviews Making Squid Game: The ...
'Game Of Thrones' Star Joseph Gatt Files $40 Million ...
Joseph Gatt, an actor who appeared on Season 4 of Game of Thrones, has filed a whopping $40 million lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department, L.A. District ...
The Long Game (2023)
The Long Game: Directed by Julio Quintana. With Dennis Quaid, Jay Hernandez, Gillian Vigman, Jaina Lee Ortiz. In 1955, five young Mexican-American caddies, out of the love for the game, were determined to learn how to play, so they created their own golf course in the middle of the South Texas desert.
The Beautiful Game Review: Netflix's Worthy Sports Drama Reminds Us Why
The Beautiful Game releases against this backdrop of empty nationalistic posturing to remind us what football (soccer for American viewers) is really all about.The Beautiful Game depicts football as a universal language, breaking down national barriers rather than erecting them.The film depicts England's attempts to win the Homeless World Cup, which are both helped and hindered by star player ...
'The Beautiful Game' Review: A Different Kind of World Cup
This heart-string-tugging Netflix movie about a homeless soccer team, featuring Bill Nighy and Micheal Ward, puts the emphasis on play and uplift. By Glenn Kenny When you purchase a ticket for an ...
Inter Miami vs Colorado live stream: Can you watch for free?
Watch Inter Miami vs Colorado on MLS Season Pass. Watch Inter Miami vs Colorado Live Stream from Abroad. The match starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and will stream exclusively on MLS Season Pass via Apple ...
NC State vs Purdue live stream: Can you watch for free?
Other Ways to Watch the NC State vs Purdue Live Stream. Max / Max. If you've exhausted all of your free trials, there are some pretty cheap live-stream options, too. Both Final Four games and ...

‘Squid Game’ Review: Netflix’s Global Hit Wants to Condemn Violence While Reveling in It

Daniel D'Addario

More From Our Brands

Netflix’s New K-Thriller ‘Squid Game’ Is Disturbing and Fascinating and I Cannot Wait for Season 2

Purewow Rating: 4 Stars

Squid Game is a winning addition to the burgeoning dystopia subgenre

Sign up for Sight & Sound’s Weekly Film Bulletin and more

Other things to explore

The First Omen: a surprisingly lively take on well-worn franchise mythology

Monkey Man: Dev Patel wreaks brutal havoc in a muddled but enthralling revenge drama

We Have Seen the Enemy in ‘Squid Game’ — and It Is Us

Alan Sepinwall

Editor’s picks

Related Stories

'SNL' Weekend Update Tackles Northeast Earthquake, Trump's 'Cocaine' Comment

'SNL' Monologue: Kristen Wiig Gets Her 'Five-Timers' Jacket from Ryan Gosling

'Star Wars': 'The Mandalorian & Grogu' Making Jump to Big Screen in May 2026

Jerrod Carmichael Opens Up About His Complicated Relationship With Sex: ‘I Use It to Escape’

Pat Sajak's Final 'Wheel of Fortune' Show Date Confirmed

Most Popular

Verify it's you

Squid Game: Season 1 Review

What's your favorite Korean thriller?

Netflix Spotlight: October 2021

Fall TV 2021 Streaming Preview: Biggest New and Returning Shows

In This Article

More Reviews by Brittany Vincent

Death Race 2000 Was Fun, Violent, and Prophetic

Squid Game ’s Apocalypse Is Now

More From This Series

Most Viewed Stories

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

Sign In To Continue Reading

Substance & Meaningful Entertainment

The Premise of ‘Squid Game’

A Metaphor for Class Structure

The Importance of Family in ‘Squid Game’

You might also like…

Newsletter Subscription

Related Articles

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Email not verified

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Movies / TV

Where to Watch

Cast & Crew

Popular TV on Streaming

Squid Game Review

Related Articles

Or browse by category:

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Common Sense Selections for Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

Explaining the News to Our Kids

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

A Lot or a Little?

Educational Value

Positive Messages

Positive Role Models

Diverse Representations

Violence & Scariness

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Products & Purchases

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Parents Need to Know