Squid Game (2021-) TV Series
Hundreds of people who are struggling financially are invited to join a mysterious competition promising a huge payday to the winner. After joining players compete in a series of simple children's games, but now with their own survival at stake.
Cast and Information
Seasons: 1, Episodes: 9 - Episode List
Created By: Dong-hyuk Hwang
Directed By: Dong-hyuk Hwang
Starring: Jung-jae Lee, Yu Kong, Hae-soo Park, Yuuki Luna, Wi Ha-Joon, Heo Sung-tae, Hoyeon Jung
Genres: Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Action
AKA: Ojing-eo geim
Country: South Korea
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Squid Game belongs to 6 collections
1. Netflix Original Programming (collaborative: moderated by iceblox - 8 stars)
2. Series (public: cankutozturk - 2 stars)
3. People in a game where they risk their lives (collaborative: moderated by tipar - 1 star)
4. Netflix (public: TonyS. - 1 star)
5. Netflix Originals (collaborative: moderated by TallnNerdy)
6. TV Series wishlist (public: volt26)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 10 |  |
deaddilly | 30 5th |
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The only somewhat menacing dystopian aspect of 'Squid Game' is Netflix's ability to completely dominate pop culture with this cookie cutter material.
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| 9 |  |
janus | 50 19th |
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I'd just like to use this space to extend my sincere thanks to everyone on Criticker. This is a site I've happily browsed and posted on for over a decade, and it has been important part of discovering my personal taste and cementing my love of film. As I've drifted away from other increasingly cliquey online spaces, I'm glad that we have kept it casual and friendly here for so long. I enjoy reading all your blurbs and I hope that mine are are positive part of your day too, in whatever small way.
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| 5 |  |
Guillaume | 72 48th |
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Great absurdist premise made human, but also feels like an anime turned live action 1:1. The detective arc is rather unnecessary and the ending (starting from episode 7) is overlong and quite dissatisfying, however human it might be to not be able to let go of a trauma, even when it looks like you have all the means in the world to do so. The acting is great and good fun, until Americans join the cast as "VIPs", killing the atmosphere and - judging from their dialogues - some of the show writers
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| 4 |  |
Moribunny | 5 2nd |
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Unbelievably stupid and shitty, and its popularity is a testament to the extremely low standards of the Netflix generation.
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| 4 |  |
emtilt | 59 40th |
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[through season 1] Interesting to watch at first, but the final episodes decide that rather than writing an ending to a clearly-at-its-end story, it would rather just create a bunch of loose threads as bait for a season 2. Really unfortunate.
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| 4 |  |
guy piranha | 64 46th |
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Hwang can't handle western capitalist themes (let alone western capitalist characters, jeez, those VIPs are student film-level bad), so this amalgamation of decades worth of survival-game-type movies isn't exactly revolutionary. The spin on the genre (kids games) is well designed, but who exactly pays billions to watch grown men play marbles? Let's say it's a decent enough time sink with good production value, but ultimately a letdown, and a second season can only get wor......red hair?!?!?!?!?!
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| 3 |  |
Jerky | 90 99th |
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Easily one of the best new shows I've seen in a long time! It's Battle Royale meets Big Brother. The story is engaging, funny, heartbreaking, intense, bloody, sadistic and never boring. It takes the time to craft the story and makes you feel for the characters, all while raising the stakes with each passing episode. Very enjoyable and I truly hope that enough people watch for them to warrant another season
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| 3 | Sadman | 75 45th |
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The fact that this is such a well crafted piece of entertainment is bothersome to me. There are minor quibbles with the story but all in all, they manage to create a series that looks good and knows how to play your emotions. The problem lies in that almost perfect commercial appeal. Subject matter as sadistic as this ought to feel harrowing but the creators hold back and, as it's popularity shows, it ends up being more of a shocking thrill ride than a sobering look at the horrors on display.
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| 3 |  |
beard_metals | 65 67th |
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Almost ruined by the terrible ending promising an unnecessary second season.
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| 3 |  |
Henno | 59 34th |
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There are a lot of nice ideas but overall the Characters are very cartoony and shallow. The Conclusion was very uncreative and boring.
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| 2 |  |
djross | 50 43rd |
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"Spielen macht frei" could have been the slogan. Another film that seems to gesture towards the tripartite structure of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (prehistory and the inception of war; the journey through reason and technics; rebirth and a new mission), with some connection to EYES WIDE SHUT as well (but when the English-language parts appear, the dialogue and performances suddenly seem very unsubtle, perhaps concealed earlier on from the non-Korean speaker by the language barrier).
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| 2 |  |
amerigo | 79 60th |
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An excellent narrative anchored by compelling acting that peters out in the final few episodes. To be fair, it's difficult to wrap up a series season and I will give Hwang credit of at least trying to do something different. It doesn't really work nor does it make much sense, but, hey, at least it wasn't as cliche as it could have been. In all, the first handful of episodes are immaculately shot, filled to the brim with anxiety-inducing tension. Too bad it runs out of steam in the end.
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| 2 |  |
edkrak | 60 43rd |
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I like the concept and visual design of games and locations. But the story would gain so much from being more streamlined - brothers story doesn't go anywhere interesting, half of the games are rather lame and uneventful (cookies/marbles/squid) and sequel-bait ending sucks. A bit of a wasted potential, would be awesome as a 2,5 hour movie.
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| 2 |  |
dunbar | 70 44th |
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It’s not original but there’s nothing wrong with that. It offers up moments of entertainment, brutality and sadness. By the end, however, the poor character arcs, loose ends, plot holes and contrived twists/reveals begin to compound themselves to completely undermine whatever compelling moments were to be found within the games and the game itself to the point where I wondered “what was the fucking point?”
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| 2 |  |
CMonster | 80 69th |
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1) look up your currency to won conversion before you start, it helps 2) the VIPs had to be written by a 12 year old, by far the worst part of the show 3) through the first 6 episodes, I thought they did a great job giving proper time for main plot, side plots, and character development. Episodes 7-9 were ok but noticably more flawed. I dislike the ending because I don't need Squid Game season 2. Maybe I'm wrong and they make something good. I just like the idea of high quality, 1 season shows
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| 2 |  |
Aph002 | 8 69th |
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Highly enjoyable.
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| 1 | FlorVdE | 1 18th |
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Starts out promising, but gradually you realise there is actually less to this series than meets the eye. Introduction of VIP's is a low point, but even before that the writing gets predictable and forced.
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| 1 |  |
Difontaine | 73 61st |
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Lot's of good bits, an interesting commentary using a familiar framing device. The end is somewhat weak though. Worth a watch, maybe not worth the fuss it's being given.
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| 1 |  |
td888 | 60 58th |
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Totally not what I was expecting but so worth it. What a ride.
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| 1 |  |
Duder | 70 75th |
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Apart from the last episode, this was an awesome idea and well executed series. Although cliche at times, and some awful acting in the rich white people, a gripping show. But with its ending, it did not spark that much interest in me for season 2.
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| 1 |  |
Okkervil | 68 63rd |
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Daft fun, with a likeable cast. Messy ending.
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| 1 |  |
Velvet Crowe | 72 78th |
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It's solid enough during the actual game parts, aside from a few asspull contrivances. But in terms of narrative, the characterization comes across as spastic and juvenile while its major twists come across as being pointless. The portrayal of class divide is superficial, with the way the poor and rich are compared coming across as incredibly non-sensical. I would hope a second season may make up for a lot of this shows awkward narrative decisions, but I guess we'll wait and see?
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| 1 |  |
snallygaster | 55 56th |
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Character archetypes, themes and overall design are good. Like most of these edgy dystopias, does not put much effort into counterbalancing its fantastic premise with somewhat believable plot mechanics.
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| 1 |  |
mattorama12 | 77 82nd |
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Very entertaining. I think what's most impressive is that it actually gets some really emotional moments. Usually those kinds of moments ring a bit hollow in films and shows that are this dark. It doesn't quite stick the landing and it does feel like it wanted to be deeper than it was, but it's a thrilling ride to get there nonetheless.
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| 1 |  |
Kuroel | 70 81st |
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Episodes 1-5 are intriguing and gripping. Everyone saw episode 6 coming, but it absolutely elevates the series. Unfortunately it stumbles after that to the finishing line. Sequel bait at the end is nonsensical. Had it been trimmed to 7 or 8 episodes without the detective side story and unnecessary last two plot twists (that really in the end do nothing), it would have been more effective. Detective could have been replaced by a soldier starting to feel empathy towards one specific player.
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| 1 |  |
JSchlansky | 80 77th |
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Great grasp of tone, compelling social commentary, and an extremely charismatic cast. The show doesn't take the easy way out with any of the games and constructs many tense moments and surprises throughout. The denouement is the only major misstep. A character references the actor Lee Byung-hun in the episode before Lee Byung-hun shows up playing a different character. How bizarre is that? That would be like if Vincent in Collateral mentioned he was going to see the new Tom Cruise movie.
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| 1 |  |
philamental | 55 26th |
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There's a killer concept here, no pun intended, but aside from the set up and most of the games there's a huge amount of character filler here that generally doesn't go anywhere or pay off in any satisfactory manner. Seems like something that would have made a much better standalone movie rather than dragging it out for nearly 9 hours. While worth watching for the curious it doesn't live up to the global hype although maybe that's because I'm less shocked by Korean productions than most others.
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| 1 | BadFurDay | 5 40th |
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Parasite themed battle royale. It was alright. Dragged on for too long, with too much filler. The actors were pretty good at their craft.
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| 1 | SpeedMarque | 60 62nd |
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Gets a bit repetitive and drops off in quality around the 6 episode. But still a nice show that looks good
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| 1 |  |
anilscn | 20 7th |
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şaka yapmayın bilader silin şu komik puanları, özellikle koyu yeşil olanları. ne persona ne bilmem neye verdiğiniz oyunuz ciddiye alınır. taşak malzemesi olmayın. bu beşinci sınıf hollywood'dan bozma sıfır mantık dizilere okey miyiz artık?
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| 1 |  |
ADragon91 | 75 79th |
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Started out very strong up until episode 6, then went downhill with all the VIP stuff and plot twists and turns that undermined characters and story stuff earlier on. Has great production values and acting. Episode 6 was the best one by a mile, but the last three eps were pretty weak and dragged it down. 8/10 for Season 1.
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| 1 | jarno | 20 38th |
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Though the series doesn't really ever get more exotic than the excellent pilot episode and the initial air of mystery disappates with each passing episode, Squid Game is still worth a look.
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| 1 | cutecake | 60 33rd |
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Standard Korean thriller stuff with a garbage last 3 episodes. There are way better shows and movies out there with similar concepts that don't try to shove their "subtle" hints of plot down your throat.
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| 1 |  |
uvlalid | 50 24th |
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Isn't this just a re-hash of Kaiji?
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| 1 |  |
Bartbaard | 64 52nd |
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Starts of strong with a lot of momentum to keep you engaged. But starting from game 4 the show lost my interest and the twists and turns presented were just boring. There's some good stuff in there, but eventually it's all just shameless plugging for a next season
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| 1 | impig | 65 28th |
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completely unoriginal
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| 1 |  |
Filmphil | 85 51st |
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The first 6 Episodes are Amazing but the last 3 are a bit slow and this Show deserves an Epic, better Climax
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| Average Percentile 54.97% from 1427 Ratings |  |