--- title: "Squid Game: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/squid-game/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/tv/squid-game" critics_score: 74 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Squid Game (2021): what the critics said Critics' score 74 from 7 reviews: 6 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics like it, and the praise gathers around the games themselves: inventive, brutal set pieces that several reviews say grip from the first episode, with the Red Light, Green Light sequence picked out for the plainness of its horror. Hwang Dong-hyuk’s script is credited with keeping the thriller tight and giving the contestants enough life that the deaths land rather than pass. The class allegory, desperate people gambling their lives inside a rigged system, is read by most as sharp, and The Ringer argues the critique works because the series never makes the killing look cool. The reservations are about subtlety. Empire finds the message unsubtle, if riveting, and Variety alone breaks ranks, calling the series thin on ideas, its talk of inequality and goodness banal, and its violence closer to fetish than critique. That one review pulls the spread wide; the other six sit close together at the warm end. ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 28 September 2021. The critic praises the tightly written horror thriller for its inventive set pieces, eclectic cast and bingeworthy cliffhangers, while noting its sharp commentary on real-world wealth inequality in South Korea. The show is singled out for its relatable characters and emotional depth amid the violence. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/sep/28/squid-game-the-hellish-horrorshow-taking-the-whole-world-by-storm) ## Vulture — Kathryn VanArendonk Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 October 2021. The series excels as a bleak portrait of financial despair and the exploitation of nostalgia rather than hopeful resilience. It stands out for its precise depiction of how the end times already feel present in everyday economic struggle. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/squid-game-netflix-series-review.html) ## Empire — Beth Webb Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2021. The critic finds Squid Game an unsubtle but riveting class-warfare thriller that becomes a global phenomenon through its brutal premise and inventive games. Hwang Dong-hyuk's taut script and the show's visual flair are singled out for praise alongside its emotional heart. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/squid-game/) ## Variety — Daniel D'Addario Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 8 October 2021. The series is thin on development and ideas, amplifying violence and inhumanity while offering only banal philosophizing about inequality and goodness. It revels in gruesomeness and fetishizes death in a having-it-both-ways manner that flatters viewers for enjoying it. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/squid-game-tv-review-1235084305/) ## Den of Geek — Kayti Burt Rating 4.5/5. 16 September 2021. The series makes strong use of its familiar deadly competition premise and executes its tropes effectively from the start. It singles out the visceral impact of the opening Red Light, Green Light sequence for its unflinching horror. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/squid-game-review-netflix/) ## The Ringer — Brian Phillips Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 30 September 2021. The critic finds the series terrifically compelling as both entertainment and moral allegory, praising its refusal to glamorize the violence or make the action look cool. It singles out the show's attention to the mundane logistics and drudgery behind the murders as what makes the critique effective. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2021/09/30/tv/squid-game-is-gleefully-vicious-and-violent-but-succeeds-best-in-its-mundane-moments) ## NME — Hidzir Junaini Rating 4/5. 20 September 2021. The series is a sharp allegory about inequality and a rigged system under late-stage capitalism, where desperate contestants are compelled to play deadly children's games for a huge cash prize. The critic praises its thematic intelligence alongside the visceral tension of the games and the shifting alliances and betrayals among players. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/tv-reviews/squid-game-review-netflix-k-drama-3056718) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/tv/squid-game.md