“Squid Game” created the event three years ago. A new program that looks a lot like it is coming out on, still on Netflix.
What are we streaming this week? Faced with the return of two flagship series, The Bridgerton Chronicles on Netflix and Outer Range on Prime Video, another Korean program can be discovered on the first platform this week. Very similar to Squid Game in its synopsis, the series has something to please fans of dystopian programs.
Inspired by Bae-Jin Soo’s webtoons Money Game and Pi Game, The 8 Show follows eight people in need of money who are invited to play a TV show, “Money Game.” They are confined in rooms spread over eight floors in a mysterious building, and are challenged to stay there for 100 days in order to split the winnings of 44.8 billion won (more than 30 million euros). However, expenses for food, water and electricity are also deducted from the final sum, which can generate tensions between participants. In the cast, subscribers will find: Ryu Joon-yeol (Believer), Chun Woo-hee (Be Melodramatic), Park Jun-min, Bae Sung-woo, Moon Jung-hee, or Lee Joo-young.
It’s hard not to see in The 8 Show a scenario similar to that of Squid Game. Remember, in 2021, Hwang Dong-hyeok’s Korean series also told the story of how people in financial difficulties were invited to a mysterious survival competition (not televised this time) and had to participate in traditional children’s games, deadly, to win a large sum of money.
If The 8 Show does not include (for the moment) deadly elements in its storyline, several elements reminiscent of Squid Game are found in this synopsis. It must be said that when it was released three years ago, the series was an exceptional success on Netflix, becoming the most watched non-English-speaking series on the streaming platform of all time, with more than 265 million views . We will now see if this new Korean series in 8 episodes, therefore to be seen in less than 8 hours, will have such a dazzling run or not. The 8 Show is available on Netflix from May 17, 2024.