Series Review: Squid Game

I love Korean cinema for its different approach from Hollywood and its propensity for all kinds of gimmicks or sudden plot twists, so I couldn't pass by the new series Squid Game (Ojingeo geim) directed and written by Dong-hyuk Hwang, released on Netflix streaming service and topping its list of popular projects, surpassing The Witcher, The Bridgertons and Lupin.

I have to say at once - I watched it avidly, was more than happy with it, and it seems to be a shoo-in for Best TV Series of 2021.

source

The show revolves around a few indebted Koreans who take advantage of a mysterious invitation to take part in some kind of gambling game with monstrous stakes and a phenomenal prize of 45 billion won. The game has only six rounds based on popular children's games and more than 400 participants, except that none of them were warned that dropouts and rule-breakers would simply be killed.

source

I don't want to go deeper into the plot, so as not to spoil your viewing pleasure, but the creators of the series, emphasizing the emotions of the characters, turned the extremely simple, familiar from childhood game mechanics into a tense thriller of the highest caliber, and the innocence and simplicity of children's fun made a perfect setting for a real nightmare.

On top of that, The Squid Game has an unparalleled visual component, with the cameraman and artists working masterfully with scale, simultaneously impressing with scope and emphasizing the insignificance of the characters, often choosing angles from which a crowd of similarly dressed players look like ants in a sandbox. Add to this the elaborate drama and constant trolling of moral principles, characters to which you get attached literally for a couple of minutes of acquaintance, spice up the motivation and here you are already sitting on the fifth series with wet palms and ready to yell at the TV or a tablet screen with all your might.

source

I confess I haven't experienced anything like this in a long time, and of course I can't help but say a few words about the lead actors and the antagonist. In the first one, a simple-hearted loser with an incredibly kind heart, Lee Jeong-jae, it's very hard to recognize a dashing psychopath from the action film "Deliver Us from Evil", but the second, Heo Seong-tae, a ruthless and cold-hearted gangster, is in fact the nicest man in life, fluent in Russian and who used to work at the Russian office of LG. Such smart work of actors is a rarity, and we especially want to mark the second episode, made in the best traditions of Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" (Gisaengchung) and raising the bar of drama to unreachable heights.

source

Of course, the series is not perfect, and there are some uncomfortable questions about how easily one of the positive heroes joined the friendly team of minions of the game staff, but in general, it is not so important, because after this show the theme of "survival games" in movies and TV series can be safely closed for the next couple or three years.

@NoiseCash | Source in Russian | @Twitter