Nana Sam, Grade 9, Staff Writer
With 8.1 stars on IMDb, 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and 142 million households tuning in to watch, it’s safe to say that Squid Game is the new hit show that no one, not even the creator himself, was expecting. It already achieved the biggest series launch in all of streaming service history, Within the first 28 days, it was streamed for over 1.65 billion hours. Most significantly, it has become Netflix’s most-watched show ever.
Squid Game is a South Korean show about 456 players, who are all in deep financial debt and risk their lives playing six children’s games. The last player standing wins 45.6 billion Won, which is approximately equal to $28,132,191. Each game ends with several dead players and an increased pool of money. The story primarily focuses on eight of the 456 players: Seong Gi-hun (#456), Cho Sang-woo (#218), Hwang Jun-ho, Kang Sae-byeok (#067), Oh Il-nam (#001), Jang Deok-su (#101), Abdul Ali (#199), and Han Mi-nyeo (#212).
Squid Game has a little bit of everything for its wide variety of fans. There is gore for horror fans, psychological thriller for those who enjoy it, and a bit of comedy for those who need a good laugh once in a while.
The creator of Squid Game, Hwang Dong-hyuk, based the show on his own personal issues. He wanted to highlight global issues regarding capitalism and class struggles. The global crisis examined in Squid Game actually parallels reality. Just like in Squid Game, the needy are often forced to turn to unethical means to live their lives.
In my opinion, Squid Game is a great show, and it deserves all the recognition and fame it has received. It dives into deep parts of the human psyche and has exposed America to a culture it has not fully experienced before. The show also has a fun, but scary, plot that entices the average viewer.