Squid Game season 2 review: 'A highly welcome return to this hellscape world'

The brutal Korean satire became a worldwide phenomenon when it first aired in 2021. Its return is no less savage – and looks likely to be as big a hit this time around.

Back in September 2021, an unusual Korean TV series that was an allegory for the ills of late capitalism became the surprise global hit of the year. Squid Game lured viewers in – like the contestants in the game at the centre of the show – with candy-coloured sets, masked guards running around in pink jumpsuits and contestants cutely dressed in matching green tracksuits, as they all played traditional Korean childhood games together. Then, the butchering began.

The success of the macabre Korean-language horror series was such a genuine TV phenomenon that it remains Netflix's most watched show of all time, with currently more than 265 million views. It's arguably the streamer's most gory and violent show too, with hundreds of gruesome, point-blank murders.

However, all this violence is necessary, creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk would argue, as Squid Game is his brutal satire on the wealth divide and class disparity in South Korea. As he and Netflix found out, the themes behind the dystopian horror are universal, and the grotesque story was a smash hit across the world. A follow-up season (and a third) were promptly commissioned, and now, three years on, series two will send a shiver down spines in the holiday season, with its not-so-festive release the day after Christmas Day.

Series one centred around Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a gambling addict who s 455 other destitute people who agree to play a series of games in the hope of winning some money. But they find themselves trapped on an island playing games like marbles – in front of an audience of a mysterious masked cabal – with a deadly twist: if they fail to win, they are murdered by the guards.

This would be a straight-up slasher story; were it not for the moral conundrum it asked of the players. The prize fund goes up 100 million Korean won ($70,000/£55,000) every time somebody is killed, meaning that the players could win up to 45.6 billion won ($31m/£25m) if they are the last one standing; a tempting proposition to the desperate assembled group, who are also free to leave the games – but only if the majority chooses to do so.

The ending of series one saw Gi-hun "win" – if there is any triumph in escaping death but watching more than 400 people slaughtered around you – and vowing to find out who was really behind the games. (Some spoilers ahead)

The first time we see him in the new season, it's a cold, hard open that instantly harks back to the high levels of gorecore of the first series. He's naked in a public bathroom and bloodily gouging out tracking chips that have been implanted in his flesh. When a young boy enters the room, Gi-hun says nonchalantly: "I'm sorry…could you give me five minutes">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });