When it premiered on Netflix in 2021, Squid Game was nothing more than another South Korean, foreign language series. However, it only took a short period of time before the it became Netflix’s most-watched series ever, attracting 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first month. Fourteen Primetime Emmy nominations and six wins later, including one for Lee Jung-jae for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Squid Game has struck a chord for many reasons.
It tells the story of desperate people being recruited for a secret contest. They just need to play a series of children’s games. The last person standing of 456 players wins the prize pot of 45.6 billion won, or about $36 million dollars. But there’s a catch: surviving the game is literal. Losers are killed in the most heinous, twisted ways, often at the hands of other competitors willing to do whatever it takes. Squid Game, however, is about a lot more than terrifying games and mass murder, and it’s definitely more substantial than the reality show spin-off, Squid Game: The Challenge, that premiered on Netflix in November. There are many reasons Squid Game is still the best Netflix show to watch.
Squid Game is about more than just the game. It’s a social commentary on economic and class disparity and inequality. The game is only promoted to people at their absolute lowest, recruited when they are in their most vulnerable state. They have no money, they’re in trouble, and they see no way out. Scenes with masked wealthy elite white men saddling up to watch the games while indulging in drinks, food, and sexual fantasies bring this theme home. It’s a sport to them and the players aren’t valued as humans.
The show is as brilliantly subversive as Black Mirror. Even after knowing the stakes, players decide to move forward anyway because they have nothing to lose. Society has disregarded them anyway, so why not take the risk? There are deeper themes going on behind the surface story and gruesome scenes in Squid Game.
The story in Squid Game progresses with every episode and each one reveals a new, more sinister and elaborately concocted game. It’s a visual spectacle. As the lead character Seong Gi-hun (Jung-jae) is faced with seemingly impossible decisions, it causes viewers to wonder what they would do in similar scenarios. Is your moral obligation to others worth more than your life? Would you sell someone else out, even a friend, if it meant you could win millions?
It isn’t just about Seong, though. Every character is compelling. As they make difficult decisions, fans wonder if circumstances have caused them to become the worst versions of themselves or if they are just bad people to begin with. It’s an emotional roller coaster throughout. The protagonist initially seems like an awful person but later proves himself to be one of the strongest, most resilient, and caring of the bunch, marking the ultimate redemption story as well.
Squid Game was so popular that it spawned a reality competition show based on it. Squid Game: The Challenge is offering the largest ever single cash prize in both reality show and game show history with a prize pot of $4.56 million. True to the series, there will also be 456 players competing in games inspired by those from the show, marking the largest-ever cast in reality TV show history as well.
Of course, players’ actual lives are not on the line. But it’s a testament to the creativity and compelling nature of the games on Squid Game, all inspired by popular children’s schoolground games, that a reality show would be created on such a massive magnitude. The series, which begins streaming November 22, 2023, consists of 10 episodes. Meanwhile, filming for the second season of Squid Game has already begun.
Stream Squid Game on Netflix.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.