The #1 Reason Why International Viewers Love “Squid Game”, According To The Show’s Writer & Director
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Since battle royale K-Drama Squid Game dropped on Netflix, it’s been an unprecedented success. The show quickly topped the Netflix charts in numerous countries worldwide, and CEO Ted Sarandos recently admitted he thinks Squid Game will be the platform’s most successful non-English drama ever. But just why are global viewers so obsessed? Squid Game‘s writer and director, Hwang Dong Hyuk, has the answer.
In an online interview with Yonhap News, Hwang Dong Hyuk confessed that the success of his show is “just a surprise,” adding that it’s incredible how popular the show became within just one week.
As a creator, I’m so thrilled that my work has caught the hearts of people all around the world. It might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
— Hwang Dong Hyuk
When asked why Squid Game has become so popular, Hwang Dong Hyuk had one key answer in mind, and it may surprise you: “simplicity.”
According to the writer-director, it’s all down to the simplicity of the tasks the players face. Based on traditional Korean children’s games, the six rounds include basic trials like tug of war and cutting a shape out of dalgona (a Korean honeycomb treat). Since the games are simple and easy, Hwang Dong Hyuk says viewers are able to immerse themselves in the deeper elements of the show—namely the characters and the commentary on competitive society.
I also think people are attracted by the irony that hopeless grownups risk their lives to win a kids’ game. The games are simple and easy, so viewers can give more focus on each character rather than complex game rules.
— Hwang Dong Hyuk
He went on to say that while Squid Game certainly shares elements with popular survival media like The Hunger Games and Battle Royale, it also sets itself apart with a more unique narrative and different content.
I think Squid Game shares the framework and some dramatic stereotypical tools with those previous survival shows, but its content and narrative are different from them.
— Hwang Dong Hyuk
Surprisingly, the director confessed that although he wrote the original Squid Game story as a movie screenplay around ten years ago, it was initially turned down by Korean investors due to violence and sensationalism. But luckily, Netflix saw his vision when he pitched them to story around two years ago, and now the rest is history.
For more reasons why Squid Game is so popular, see which elements viewers picked out as their favorite.
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