I have to admit, this Korean miniseries sounded pretty silly to me—a bunch of adults playing kids’ games … with their lives in the balance. However, after struggling through the beginning of the first episode, I quickly became hooked and binged through the remaining series over the course of a few days.
The main character, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), is a degenerate gambler whose reckless ways led to a divorce, an estranged daughter, and an endangered ailing mother, who can’t afford treatment for diabetes because Gi-hun cashed in her insurance policy. When he gets the mysterious invitation to compete, he has nothing to lose.
Over the course of nine episodes, what unfolds is a morality play where the characters’ true colors are revealed. Some are heartless reprobates, but many are merely conflicted or caught up in terrible circumstances. With their lives on the line, they’re forced to make impossible choices. It’s riveting!
The series goes off the rails a bit through the final few episodes as we learn the masterminds and machinations behind the games, but the final result is much better than the series’ premise. (in Korean, English, and Urdu; nine 60-min. episodes)
—Glen Starkey
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 4, 2021.