Squid Game is a 2021, Korean action drama TV Series on Netflix, which follows the stories of numerous characters who are in financial struggles but all of a sudden, randomly receive a mysterious invitation to compete in a survival game to win the equivalent of ten million US dollars. The game occurs in an unknown setting to all the characters, and the participants are locked up until there is one final winner to receive the cash prize. The game will include favourited children's games from the 1970s in Korea including the 'Red light, Green light' which applies similar rules to 'What's the time Mr Wolf?' However, if you break a rule, you quickly learn that you will die in exchange for the money.
We follow the main character, Ki-Hoon through his struggle for money after losing his job, a life of betting and being mugged. He enters this game in order to earn back anything he lost along with 455 other desperate people.
Massive cash prizes persuade players to take one frightening behaviour choice after another without regret nor having sympathy for the lives of the other activists. Due to there being only one winner, the line between good and bad becomes blurred, and the desperation for survival becomes even more horrifying. Yet [SPOILER ALERT] later on we find that the rich, are betting on these hopeless less-fortunate people, in order to be entertained.
I believe that Hwang Dong-Hyuk (director & writer) is using the Squid Game as a way to show the troubling reality of the exploitation of money. Not only from the wealthy perspective but also those who aren't, those who are blood thirsty in exchange for a bit of cash. He encourages us to remain grateful and appreciative of what we may have and to rethink our choices of bad behaviour as it may be truly irreversible. So in conclusion, it is a giant allegory that highlights the capitalist society of current times and implies at the diverse stories of the game contenders and how they have been forced into competition in present society. The radical competition uses ideas from children’s games to then push contenders and create a dire contrast between childhood purity or innocence and greed.
In case you are interested in this Netflix original, here's the trailer!