I’m usually pretty hesitant to jump on the bandwagon of “OMG, this is the greatest show I’ve ever seen,” so, admittedly, I was deliberately late to the Squid Game party. Why? Perhaps due to some misplaced movie snobbery, or perhaps due to the volcanic response flooding the internet proclaiming the genius of the show. I finally saw it, way later than everyone else…and boy, oh boy. I’m still thinking about it.
And now, after almost three years, season 2 is finally within reach, specifically, December 26, 2024 on Netflix.
“Season 2 explores how Gi-hun follows through on his words after leaving the airport,” said the show’s creator, Hwang Dong-yuk. “Gi-hun’s endeavor to find out who these people are and why they do what they do is the core story of Season 2.”
Squid Game was created by Hwang Dong-hyuk (who, as a struggling filmmaker, famously had to sell his laptop just to pay rent), and became a gargantuan global hit after it debuted in 2021. Spending over a decade in development, it took just 12 days for it to become Netflix’s most popular series of all time (and also resulted in shoe company, Vans, selling out of their white slip-on sneakers in rapid time). While on top of the charts, it dominated the Global Top 10 for nine consecutive weeks – a first for any non English series – and made history with groundbreaking Emmy wins.
So what can we expect from Season 2?
Well (spoiler alert), everyone except for Lee Jung-jae’s character dies at the end of season 1, leaving him the lone victor of the cash prize. Only problem is, he doesn’t want to touch it. And the series ends with him willingly returning to the deadly Squid Games.
One is instantly reminded of the final scene in Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Picture Oscar Winner, The Hurt Locker (2009). After finally escaping the deadly perils of war, when Jeremy Renner’s character returns to civilisation, the lack of excitement pales in comparison to the adrenalised harshness of war; eventually, like an addict, he has no choice but to return. There is a scene when Renner is walking down the empty aisle of a supermarket, picking out breakfast cereal with his son, and only then do we begin to understand how mundanely boring the ‘white picket fence life’ must be for someone with a background like his.
Similarly, what we gather from the Squid Game season 2 trailer is that Seong Gi-hun (Jung-jae) returns to the deadliest obstacle course on the planet, seemingly ready to do it all again, despite winning all that prize money. Why? Well, perhaps like war, the real world – with its rules and regulations – pales in comparison.
In his 2020 multi-Oscar winning speech(es) for the groundbreaking Parasite, South Korean filmmaker, Bong Joon Ho, told the American audience, “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” And how right he was.
Set your calendars for December 26.
