Netflix's bloody thriller pits 456 players for a chance to win US$40 million, but there can only be one winner in the deadly game. Who won?
If you have one chance to redeem your life by playing a seemingly simple children's game, would you take it?
That is the premise of the insanely intense South Korean thriller series 'Squid Game.' The series puts a sinister twist on the classic Korean children's games. People who are considered failures in life get recruited to play for a chance to win ₩45.6 billion (US$40 million).
The catch? You will die if you get eliminated, and there can only be one winner.
So, who won? And most importantly, who created the game?
For Gi-hun, life is nothing but a series of bad luck. He has accrued so much debt due to his gambling problems. He lost his job and now works occasionally as a chauffeur. Worse, his ex-wife will leave South Korea and carry their daughter away.
He is often short in cash, which makes him rely on gambling more. So when Gi-hun meets an enigmatic guy offering him ₩100,000 if he can beat him in a game of ddakji, he could not resist.
The mysterious man slaps Gi-hun if the latter does not win.
Gi-hun gets slapped several times before finally winning. The man hands Gi-hun his ₩100,000 reward and tells him that there are plenty of games where he can win more money. Although Gi-hun initially declines the offer, the man leaves him a contact number.
Later that night, Gi-hun's mother convinced him to prevent his ex-wife from carrying his daughter to the US. To do this, he must be able to provide financial proof to win the custody of his daughter.
Left with no other choice, Gi-hun calls the number confirming his participation.
A car picks up Gi-hun in a dark street. Upon getting inside, he saw other people in the car sleeping. Before he could ask more questions, he gets sedated and moved to the island.
Gi-hun wakes up in a large hall with 455 other players. The players are wearing green uniforms with their respective numbers stitched on them. Gi-hun gets the last number, 456.
Gi-hun befriends an older contestant, No. 001, who says he has a brain tumor. He then spots Cho Sang-woo or No. 218 (Hae-soo Park), his childhood friend who Gi-hun thought was doing well in life. But the truth is, Sang-woo is in the same predicament as Gi-hun. He is hiding from the police after he mismanaged the money of his clients.
It soon gets clear that all the contestants are on the brink of financial ruin. They all have debts that they cannot pay off.
Jang Deok-su or No. 101 (Heo Sung-tae) is a mid-level gangster struggling to pay off his gambling debts.
Kang Sae-byeok or No. 218 (Hoyeon Jung) is a North Korean defector who wishes to get her mother out of North Korea and her brother out of the orphanage.
Abdul Ali or No. 199 (Anupam Tripathi) is a Pakistani who immigrated to South Korea looking for work.
Before the game begins, the contestants get asked to sign a consent form. They also give them the option to leave. But since most of them seriously need the cash, they decide to stay.
There are six games prepared: Red Light, Green Light; Sugar Honeycombs; Tug-of-War; Marbles; Glass Stepping Stones; and Squid Game.
In the first game, 200 people immediately died. Sang-woo then discussed Consent Form clause 3 of the game, which states that "If all players agreed to stop playing, the games are allowed to end." It's a clear indication that only Sang-woo is the only person who cared to read the consent form before signing.
The contestants voted whether to continue or to go home. Gi-hun, Sang-woo, and the others voted to go home. They get transported back to the city.
But again, they get confronted with their problems, and they eventually decide to return to the game.
As the game progresses, the number of participants rapidly declines. In the end, there were only two contestants left to play the Squid Game: Gi-hun and Sang-woo.
While the bloody games ensue, a South Korean police officer Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) sneaks into the game island after knowing that his brother participates in the game.
Later, it gets revealed that Jun-ho’s brother, In-ho, is the Front Man. In-ho shoots his police brother Jun-ho, who falls and seemingly drowns. We did not see his body. So he might still be alive if there will be season 2.
Gi-hun, the protagonist, eventually wins the game. He is not the smartest or strongest contestant, but his kindness and determination paid off. For the first time, luck was on his side.
At the beginning of the series, Gi-hun befriended an old man whose name was later revealed as Oh Il-nam. He played a crucial role in keeping Gi-hun, Sang-woo, and others alive. Sadly, Oh Il-nam gets eliminated after the Marbles Game.
In the end, there were only two contestants left, Gi-hun and Sang-woo. But again, only one is only allowed to win. Gi-hun and Sang-woo are childhood friends. Their paths only drifted apart after Sang-woo went to business school to chase his dream.
Sang-woo's mom is very proud of him. But what she does not know is that he is in so much debt, he has even put his mother's house and business on the line.
In the final round, Gi-hun and Sang-woo faced each other. Gi-hun eventually wins while Sang-woo gets left in the mud. But before he steps into the triangle, Gi-hun stops and says he wants to vote to terminate the game. That shocked the VIPs who are placing their bets on the two.
Gi-hun only needs Sang-woo to cast his vote, too. However, Sang-woo realizes that he can no longer take back the things he has done. So, Sang-woo asks Gi-hun to swear that he will take care of his mother.
Sang-woo then kills himself.
Gi-hun takes home the pot money. When he returns home, he finds out that his mother has died while he was participating in the games on the island. He spent the next year grieving for his mother's death.
After meeting the game's creator, Gi-hun decides to move on and do what is right. He gives Sang-woo's mother half of his winnings and tells her he owes Sang-woo that amount. He also takes Sae-byeok’s brother out of the orphanage and leaves him to Sang-woo’s mother.
The mastermind is Oh Il-nam, the elderly gentleman who became friends with Gi-hun early in the game.
He created the game so he and his wealthy friends could bet. This information gets revealed at the end of the series.
After winning the game, Gi-hun spends a year mourning for his mother's death and living like he used to. One day, he receives a similar card with an address on it. He goes to the address and reaches an apartment where Il-nam is lying. He looked visibly sick and weak.
Il-nam explained to Gi-hun that not everything he told him was a lie. He indeed has brain cancer, just like what he tells Gi-hun in the beginning.
He makes one last bet with Gi-hun, who eventually wins it. Il-nam subsequently dies.
However, it seems that the gory game will continue despite the creator's absence. Before the series ends, we see the Front Man going into Il-nam's apartment.
This time though, Gi-hun will not turn a blind eye to the atrocious sports. Gi-hun was supposed to leave for Los Angeles to see his daughter when he spots the same enigmatic man trying to recruit a new contestant. He knows that the game will continue even after Il-nam's death. Instead of taking the flight, Gi-hun calls the Front Man. He tells him he is coming for them.
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