Squid Game Season 1 (2021) Review

So Squid Game has taken over the world these last few weeks and I thought that I had to watch it and I have now finished it and here is my review for it. The premise of the show sees a large group of down on there luck Koreans assembled to play childhood games with a deadly twist for a huge cash prize. 

Main Character

Lee Jung-Jae plays the lead character Gi-Han on the show and he is fantastic. At first he seems like this arrogant lowlife, but as you get to know him you see that he has just been really unfortunate and made some poor decisions. As he faces the games his character really starts to grow and he becomes an interesting protagonist and one you can support. 

Supporting Characters

There is a huge cast of people in this show and everybody acts there role really well. Oh Yeong-su really stands out as an old man involved with the game and the relationship between him and Lee Jung-Jae is superb and I really grew to care about this dynamic and for me they were the best characters on the show. There are so many other amazing characters that I think you just need to watch the show and experience them for yourself and the great writing that is done for each person. 

Story 

The story is fascinating, seeing these different personalities forced into these games causes natural conflict and tension. The different games are really great in there own unique ways and do a really brilliant job of pacing them out really well. The only issue I had was a big twist that happens towards the end of the show, it just didn't work for me and I think it could have been handled better. Also there are these English speaking VIP's and they are really bad and took me out of the show for sure. 

Script 

The script is fantastic, and that is if you watch it in Korean with subtitles. For the love of everything holy don't watch it with English dubbing, it is bad and it is nowhere near as effective and feels unnatural for the performances. There is some nice humour and the drama is ramped up ten fold, the chemistry between the performers is really good and drives you to keep watching. 

Style 

The show is really brutal, the violence is graphic but feels appropriate for the show as a whole. It is shot beautifully and feels epic in scale. The pacing is effective and you will want to binge this show for sure with each episode feeling different and great in there own way. 

Overall

Overall, Squid Game is a truly fantastic show that was so close to getting my 10/10 score. It is a must watch and don't let the language barrier turn you off and get started with it as soon as possible. 

Rating - 9/10