By Payje Davis

Staff Writer

The Netflix hit series, Squid Game, is captivating the attention of millions. With all of the plot twists and various characters that people can feel a connection with. Squid Games is directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk and was released on September 17th, 2021 with nine episodes.

For three weeks, this thriller & drama held the number 1 position on Netflix. According to Insider, Dong-hyuk began working on his script in 2008 but struggled with funding and casting then and now, up until Netflix decided to pick it up.. 

Financial debt is on a large rise in South Korea, people are desperate for money in any way, shape, or form, even if it means death. Seong Gi-hun, a severely in debt chauffeur, was invited by an unknown man in a subway station to play a set of six children’s games for a massive cash prize.

He accepts and is taken to an island in the middle of nowhere (unknown to the players) along with 455 others. The players are forced to wear green jumpsuits displaying their numbers on the right side of their chest. (Gi-hun being 456).

There is constant surveillance from masked guards with different shapes on their masks in red/pink jumpsuits. This is all overseen by a man known as the frontman, who dresses in all black head to toe.

The players, after the start of the first game, realized that loss results in their death, each death adds 100 million won to the potential 46.5 billion grand prizes earned.

People eventually start to ally, Gi-hun allies with characters such as Abdul Ali, Sae-beyok, Sang-Woo. A childhood friend & Oh Il-nam to try to survive the physical and psychological curveballs of the games.

Some things I noticed throughout the show were “Easter eggs” that hinted that one of the characters was not like the rest of the others, through some of the camera angles and minor details. Another thing to notice is if you don’t see a character’s death, don’t assume that they are actually dead just because it was implied that they “died.” 

The director’s message is that people will do bizarre things for a lot of cash. Everything from the acting to the writing is absolutely perfect, especially the music selection.

Throughout the show, the music was spot-on and fit the mood of what was going on. It made you feel uncomfortable when it was meant to achieve that feeling. Everything trying to be conveyed in this show was spot on. 

A big strength in this movie is how the writers portray the characters, their backgrounds, their struggles, and heartbreaks, as well as how they interact with others.

One weakness is how the show ended, I believe the show should have ended completely differently than how the writer ended it, it just made me super frustrated. 

In all though, I felt like it was a big eye-opener of how selfish people get when loads of money are involved. It was extremely interesting, I would 10/10 recommend it to anyone who is thinking about watching the show. The character-viewer connection and the number of plot twists are insane, it is 100% something everyone should watch at least once. 

To conclude, this show left me in awe of how you can just turn your back and betray someone who stuck by you through thick and thin when something like a large amount of money is involved. It also brings out how selfish people really are.

This show earns an A- because it’s an amazing show that was very well produced, just the ending could’ve been done differently.