Squid Game (Korean: 오징어 게임; RR: Ojing-eo Geim) is a South Korean survival drama television
series streaming on Netflix. Written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, it stars Lee Jung-jae,
Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, Jung Ho-yeon, O
Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi,
The series, distributed by Netflix, was released worldwide on
September 17, 2021.
The series revolves around a contest in which 456 players, drawn
from different walks of life but each
deeply in debt, play a series of children's
games for the chance to win a ₩45.6 billion[a] prize, with a
deadly penalty if they lose. The name of the series draws from
a similarly named Korean children's game.
Hwang had conceived of the idea based on his own economic
struggles early in life as well as the
class disparity in South Korea. Though he had initially
written it in 2009, he was unable to find a
production company to fund the idea until Netflix took an interest
around 2019 as part of their drive to
expand their foreign programming offerings. Hwang wrote and
directed all nine episodes himself.
Squid Game received
critical acclaim and attracted international attention. Within a week of its
release,
it became one of Netflix's most-watched programs in several
regional markets; during its first four weeks
from launch, it attracted more than 142 million viewers,
surpassing 2020's Bridgerton as the network's
most-watched series to date.
All Episodes
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“Red Light, Green Light” (Episode 1)
“Hell” (Episode 2)
“The Man With the Umbrella”
(Episode 3)
“Stick to the Team” (Episode 4)
“A Fair World” (Episode 5)
"Gganbu" (Episode 6)
“VIPs” (Episode 7)
“Front Man” (Episode 8)
"One Lucky Day" (Episode 9)
Seong Gi-hun, a divorced and indebted chauffeur, is invited to
play a series of children's games for
a chance at a large cash prize. Accepting the offer, he is taken
to an unknown location where he finds
himself among 456 players who are all deeply in debt. The
players are made to wear green tracksuits
and are kept under watch at all times by masked guards in
pink jumpsuits, with the games overseen by
the Front Man, who wears a black mask and black uniform. The
players soon discover that losing a game
results in their death, with each death adding ₩100 million
to the potential ₩45.6 billion grand prize.[a]
Gi-hun allies with other players, including his childhood friend
Cho Sang-woo, to try to survive the
physical and psychological twists of the games.[2][3]
Cast and
characters
Main cast
Actors:
(top) Lee Jung-jae (Seong Gi-hun, Player 456), Park Hae-soo (Cho
Sang-woo, Player 218); (bottom)
Wi
Ha-joon (Hwang Jun-ho), and Jung Ho-yeon (Kang Sae-byeok, Player
067)
Numbers in parentheses denote the character's assigned number in
the Squid Game.
· Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun (성기훈, Korean pronunciation: [sʌŋ gi hun], 456),[4] a
divorced chauffeur and a gambling addict. He
lives with his mother and struggles to support his daughter
financially. He participates in the Game
to settle his many debts, and to prove himself financially stable
enough to have custody of his daughter,
who is to leave for the United States with her mother and
stepfather.
· Park Hae-soo as Cho Sang-woo (조상우, Korean pronunciation: [tɕo saŋ u], 218),[4] the head
of an investment team at a securities company.
He was a junior classmate to Gi-hun, and studied
at Seoul National University. He is wanted
by the police for stealing money from his clients, and
racking up massive debts from bad investments.
· Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho (황준호, Korean pronunciation: [hwaːŋ tɕun ho]),[5] a police officer
who sneaks into the Game as a guard to
find his missing brother.
· Jung Ho-yeon as Kang Sae-byeok (강새벽, Korean pronunciation: [gaŋ sɛ bjʌk], 067),[6] a
North Korean defector. She enters the Game to
pay for a broker who can rescue her parents across the
border, and buy a house for her reunited
family to live in.
· O Yeong-su as Oh Il-nam (오일남, Korean pronunciation: [o il nam], 001),[7] an elderly man with a brain
tumor who prefers playing the Game as
opposed to waiting to die in the outside world.
· Heo Sung-tae as Jang Deok-su (장덕수, Korean pronunciation: [dzaŋ dʌk su], 101),[8] a gangster who
enters the Game to settle his massive gambling
debts, which includes money he stole from his boss and
underlings.
· Anupam Tripathi as Abdul Ali (알리, 199),[7] a migrant worker from Pakistan, who enters
the Game
to provide for his young family after his
employer refuses to pay him for months.
· Kim Joo-ryoung as Han Mi-nyeo (한미녀, Korean pronunciation: [han mi njʌ], 212),[9] a loud and
manipulative woman who claims to be a poor
single mother.
Recurring cast
· Yoo Sung-joo as Byeong-gi (111),[10] a doctor who secretly works with a group of corrupt guards
to
traffic the organs of dead
participants in exchange for information on upcoming games.
· Lee Yoo-mi as Ji-yeong (240),[11] a young woman who was just released from prison after
killing her
abusive father.
· Kim Si-hyun as Player 244, a pastor who
rediscovers his faith during the Game.
· Lee Sang-hee as Player 017,[12] a glass-maker with more than 30 years' experience.
· Kim Yun-tae as Player 069, a player who joins
the Game with his wife, Player 070.
· Lee Ji-ha as Player 070,[13] a player who joins the Game with her husband, Player 069.
· Kwak Ja-hyoung as Player 278, a player who joins
Deok-su's group and acts as his henchman.
· Chris Chan as Player 276,[14] a player who joins Seong Gi-hun's group in the Tug of
War round.
· Kim Young-ok as Gi-hun's mother[15]
· Cho Ah-in as Seong Ga-yeong, Gi-hun's daughter
· Kang Mal-geum as Gi-hun's ex-wife and
Ga-yeong's mother[15]
· Park Hye-jin as Sang-woo's mother
· Park Si-wan as Kang Cheol, Sae-byeok's younger
brother
Guest cast
· Gong Yoo as a salesman who recruits
participants for the Game[16]
· Lee Byung-hun as The Front Man / Hwang
In-ho[17]
· Lee Jung-jun as Guard[18]
· John D Michaels as VIP #1[19]
· Daniel C Kennedy as VIP #2[19]
· Geoffrey Giuliano as VIP #4[19]
Episodes
Squid Game consists
of one season of nine episodes at a run time of between 32 and 63 minutes.
The series was released in its entirety in all Netflix
worldwide markets on September 17, 2021.[20][21]
