Squid Game

The Korean series is here and it has been universally praised, nobody expected this. Right from the start, the amazingly original idea of hundreds of people being imprisoned and forced to play classic children's games hits the mark, except that whoever loses dies. But the first episode undoubtedly set the bar so high that no other has been able to top it, and that's perhaps a shame. The idea is fun, the visuals are good, there's no shortage of tension in the games, and the variety of challenges – from strength, thinking, balancing to cunning and emotional – is a delight, and the action of the games was awesome, but the problem comes in between. It wasn't downright bad, just often overly drawn out and the filler scenes were sometimes too long – if they'd cut down two episodes and upped the pace I'd probably be happier. Likewise, the Korean acting is annoying at times, but if you accept it, I guess you can wave a hand at that too. In the end, the final game is also nice, and although I expected the final twist to be more intense, it's still pretty decent. A decent thing that for me had more potential after the first episode, that over those 9 hours started to get a little long, but otherwise it's clearly the most original theme in a long time. (21/09/2021)

The first game is absolutely uncompromising, fantastic and if this is topped by anything, I'll be very surprised! (20/09/2021)