It took a remarkable 10 years for Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk to bring his blood-thirsty pride and joy from the page to the screen.
Considering that the South Korean survival drama was then recognised at both the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, surpassed Bridgerton as the most-watched show in Netflix history and essentially became the biggest pop culture phenomenon of 2021, it seems inconceivable that we’ll have to wait as long for a follow-up.
It will, however, be at least another year until we get to find out exactly why Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) abandoned the young daughter he’d spent the entire season pining over to once again immerse himself in the deranged world of life-or-death children’s games, black market organ-harvesting and gold-masked sadists that appeared to have wandered in from a completely different, and terribly-acted, series.
With the show’s success catching Hwang by surprise, a second series hasn’t even yet been written, let alone filmed. In fact, the brains behind the show initially didn’t even want such a thing to happen. However, the lure of Netflix money and the promise of additional projects has proven too hard to resist, and the platform’s big cheese Ted Sarandos confirmed in January 2022 that the Squid Game universe was only just getting started. In the meantime, why not check out eight other shows which offer similarly dystopian thrills.
Alice In Borderland
Perhaps Squid Game’s closest spiritual cousin, Alice in Borderland was the show that many new converts to East Asian survival thrillers gravitated towards first.
Focusing more on the sadistic games than any emotional backstories, this adaptation of Haro Aso’s same-named manga is even more gleefully gory. But it’s also ironically less cutthroat, with the three video gamers who stumble into the grisly competition on the abandoned streets of Tokyo forced to work with a whole host of other photogenic oddballs to emerge with their lives intact.
If it’s pure adrenaline you’re after, then Alice in Borderland should go straight to the front of your Netflix queue.
Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)
The Purge
The daddy of the survival horror genre, The Purge franchise has spawned five films and a two-season TV anthology. Surprisingly for such a limited premise – all crime is made legal for a 12-hour period – the latter has proven to be the most entertaining.
Its first series is particularly successful in deepening the mythology of the carnage-causing holiday, exploring everything from suicidal cults to the true price of the American Dream with an almost unbearable sense of dread and tension.
Sure, the socio-political commentary might be slightly too on-the-nose: there are even shades of Squid Game’s masked VIPs with the horrific Founding Fathers bash. But who watches The Purge for subtlety?
Where to watch: Prime Video (Worldwide)
Panic
Adapted from her own 2014 novel, Lauren Oliver’s one-season wonder focuses on a group of graduates so desperate to leave their Texas hometown they willingly sign up to Panic, an annual contest with a prize of $50,000 but one that also comes with a risk of death.
West Side Story scene stealer Mike Faist is just one of the talented young cast members vying for an escape route in a taut thriller which boasts just as much batshit insane melodrama as it does “don’t try this at home” antics. Think Squid Game meets Riverdale.
Where to watch: Prime Video (Worldwide)
3%
Premiering at a time when the appetite for teenage dystopian thrillers had started to wane, Netflix’s second non-English original undeservedly went under the radar.
Indeed, while it undoubtedly lacks the gloss of the Divergent and Hunger Games franchises, 3% is still a gripping addition to the YA canon which tackles issues such as inequality and immigration with far more nuance than most of its Hollywood counterparts.
The 3%, of course, refers to the number of impoverished competitors who advance to a much more privileged world via a death defying-contest dubbed The Process. And the show’s strong characterization means you’ll be left fully invested in the fate of all those involved.
Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)
All Us Of Are Dead
We’re still not quite over what happened to Player No.240 in the Marbles episode of Squid Game. But at least there’s another chance to see Lee Yoo-mi fight for her life in this even bloodier Netflix original. The actress plays the most privileged of the high school students caught up in a flesh-eating pandemic in the platform’s second-biggest South Korean hit to date.
Yes, All Of Us Are Dead might be yet another zombie story but thanks to its distinctive setting and self-aware script, it’s one that should revive interest in the genre even among those burned out by the never-ending The Walking Dead.
Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)
Hellbound
Hellbound was the first Korean show to emerge in Squid Game’s wake: it even knocked the phenomenon off Netflix’s most-watched list after two months.
While Yeon Sang-ho’s adaptation of his own webtoon shares some DNA with its predecessor – a thirst for blood, complex moral dilemmas, an infiltrating cop – it’s a much more fantastical watch. The enemies are literal monsters who beat society’s condemned to a pulp before dragging their souls into Satan’s lair, for one thing.
But from the cults that take advantage of all the paranoia to the parents who learn their new-born baby is destined for a one-way ticket to the netherworld, its human elements are equally intriguing.
Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)
Extracurricular
Just like Squid Game’s runners and riders, the key players in Extracurricular resort to desperate measures to get their hands on life-changing money. Instead of playing warped versions of children’s playground games, though, its struggling teens willingly sign up to an underworld of prostitution, blackmail and ultimately murder.
Yes, this is one taboo-busting K-drama that pulls few punches. But in among all the blood and gore, there’s also a darkly comic streak which brings to mind the work of Academy Award winner Bong Joon-ho. This is definitely worth overcoming the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles for.
Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)
Darwin's Game
One of the most entertaining Anime to mirror Squid Game’s survival of the fittest premise, 11-episode Darwin’s Game centres on Kaname Sudo, a high school student who gets transported into a life-or-death mobile app. And the only way for the unassuming teen to return to reality is to turn into a lean, mean killing machine.
There’s plenty of fun to be had in watching the distinctive superpower each player is given – one can acquire animal body parts, another can manipulate plants – and well-paced action sequences, while the final showdown with maniacal big boss Wang wraps things up in truly gratifying style.
Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)
