I was/am not a big fan of watching series/binge watching. Till now, I just watched a handful of those series (Prison break, True Blood, Mentalist etc.). Though I heard about Squid game/money heist, never watched it or wanted to watch it. During December 2021, I took a one month plan of Netflix to watch a Malayalam movie (Minnal Murali) and since there was not enough history about my watching preferences, Netflix suggested the most watched programs to me (Squid Game and Money Heist). Finally I ended up watching all the 9 episodes of squid game within the first 2 days itself. I was telling to myself that, you won't be gaining anything out of this and don't bother to watch it, but couldn't help. So I was just doing my analysis of what was so hooking in this program.
Background - Squid game is a Korean survival drama which was released in Netflix on September 2021. It's played by 456 players, where most of them are in deep debts and are in a state, where there is nothing is left to lose in their life. By playing 6 extremely easy games, the winners will go with some huge amount of money (46B Korean currency), but failing in a round will result in their death.
What did I like / Why it's so addictive
1. Character Presentation - Each and every character is having a strong identity. The motive behind their acts is beautifully justified. Some amazing detailing on the script. I could connect very well to the mental state of many of the characters and what are they aspiring for.
2. Unpredictability - You won't get glued to anything, if you can correctly predict what's going to happen next. Here, I was clueless and at the same time extremely anxious on what's going to happen next.
e.g. Sudden killing of the participants, riots within the players, introduction of new characters in each episodes etc.
3. Easy Games - In every habit forming products/games - the first games normally are extremely easy and participats will win and it allows the dopamine generation and they will try to recreate it. Here, all the six games were extremely simple to understand and it's played by the kids in Korea. So the users doesn't need to decrypt anything on this side and can concentrate on point#2 above.
4. Main Protagonist - Seong Gi-hun (Player - 456). He is showcased as a gambling addict with a not so good lifestyle and tons of debt and a failed family life. But at the same time, he cared for his daughtor and as and when the episodes progresses, he is coming out of his shades and the initial bad boy is turning out to be good in their overall behavior - Here, we are going along with him and conneted so well and gets a feeling that, these are real life characters.
5. Acting and Direction - Amazing set of artists, sets, scripting and direction. Each and every artists seem so perfect for their roles and they are in my mind, even after a few days of finishing it.
6. Episode ending - Each episode is ending with a curiosity element for the next episode - Some great amount of establishing the connection.
7. Anticipation/Tension - Throughout the series, the unpredictability helped in creating anticipation and large amount of tension in my mind
8. Multiple Genres - We cannot categorize Squid game as one genre. It has multiple genres beutifully scripted and tied together.
Finally - Above all, it's the beautiful story telling which is connecting well with the audience.
Some Interesting facts
- Netflix paid just over 20M$ for Squid Game Season 1 and made more than 1B$ in profit
- Season 2 is announced
- 142M households watched Squid game in the first 28 days of its release
- Dong-hyuk who is the director started working on this from 2009, but finally started the project in 2019, and he got a lot of inspiration from his own life.
If you haven't watched it yet, give it a try - you won't be disappointed.
