Squid Game has come to a stunning conclusion on Netflix, bringing Player 456’s tragic story to an end. But watching yet another season of the twisted challenges and games the players are forced to face has left many viewers wondering if the hit Netflix could be based on a true story.
Squid Game, which premiered in 2021, was created, written, and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. Lee Jung-jae stars as Gi-hun, a down-on-his-luck gambler who joins the Squid Game so he can finally provide for his daughter. Gi-hun won the Squid Game in Season 1 but the traumatic experience led him down a path for vengeance as he used his prize money to enlist the help of a police officer and a team of mercenaries to help him shut the games down once and for all. His return to the game in Season 2 only led to more tragedy and loss, leaving Gi-hun a shell of a man when viewers see him again in Season 3.
But Squid Game is best known for the brutally twisted playground games the players are forced to endure for the cash prize. From a deadly game of red light-green light or the six-legged pentathlon in Season 2, the stakes only become higher with each round as the players get picked off one by one when they lose these seemingly innocent games.
So, how did Hwang come up with such a dark and twisted story? Is Squid Game inspired by a true story? Here is what we know so far.
Yes, it is partially inspired by a true story.
Hwang told AFP that Gi-hun’s backstory was inspired by the SsangYong Motor layoffs in 2009, which led to a 77-day-long strike and a massive brawl with riot police at the plant in Pyongtaek, South Korea. The layoff affected 1,000 employees – almost one-third of the company’s workforce – and is largely considered South Korea’s worst labor strike in years, per AP News.
“Through the reference to the SsangYong Motor layoffs, I wanted to show that any ordinary middle-class person in the world we live in today can fall to the bottom of the economic ladder overnight,” Hwang said.
But Hwang drew inspiration from several sources, according to a 2021 interview with Variety when he was accused of borrowing too much from Hunger Games and Battle Royale.
He explained that he drew “great inspiration from Japanese comics and animation” and read comics such as Battle Royale and Liar Game when he was first coming up with the idea for Squid Game, which he initially envisioned to be a feature film.
“I came to wonder how I’d feel if I took part in the games myself. But I found the games too complex, and for my own work focused instead on using kids’ games,” he said.
Hwang said he envisioned Squid Game as an “allegory” for modern capitalism, aiming for “something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life.”
Squid Game Season 1-3 are streaming now on Netflix.