Gizmodo Movie Night: What To Watch After You’ve Finished Squid Game

Gizmodo Movie Night: What To Watch After You’ve Finished Squid Game

If you’ve had access to the internet over the past month, you’d know that South Korean thriller Squid Game became one of Netflix’s biggest shows ever. There are a few reasons why Squid Game has done so well. The tension, costuming, cinematography, storylines, oh and the idea of turning children’s games into violent battles to the death. Either way, it is an incredible show worthy of your viewership. Finished Squid Game? We got you.

What is most fascinating, and most pleasing, is that Squid Game has allowed for a breakthrough in other foreign TV shows. As Parasite director Bong Joon Ho so perfectly stated, now that you have gotten over the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many incredible films.

Now that you have finished binging Squid Game, this week, our Gizmodo Movie Night is dedicated to taking you to a whole new world of stories. And before you ask, yes, all of these suggestions centre around very similar themes to Squid Game (see: murder, class disparity, people hell-bent on money, violent games, love ?).

3% (2016)

3%
Image: IMBD

I actually stumbled across 3% by accident looking for other shows after I had finished Squid Game, but I am so glad I did. The Brazilian dystopian thriller has everything you could want, and more. If you were a big fan of the games and tests in Squid Game, then you should be checking out 3%. 

Created by Pedro Aguilera, the show is set in a future world where most of the population live in an impoverished area known as the Inland. However, like all societies, there is an elite group who have been chosen to live in the lavish virtual paradise, known as the Offshore (okay they aren’t that creative with names but moving on). Each year, in Hunger Games style, each 20-year-old is given the chance to move to the Offshore by taking a series of tests. It isn’t that easy though, because only 3 per cent of the candidates will qualify to leave the Inland. Of course, because we can’t just let everybody live in comfort, we gotta make them fight for it.

What is most thrilling about this show is that it isn’t that far from the imagination. It is a very telling portrayal of class disparity and the capitalist hunger that floods our reality. Some of the characters have heartbreaking stories and like Squid Game, you resonate with the humanity of them.

There’s also four seasons, with each one being better than the last, so it is perfect binge material.

You can watch the trailer here.

All four seasons of 3% are currently streaming on Netflix.

The Platform (2019)

Image: Netflix

Fair warning, this movie is pretty intense. Like, very gory. So if you could barely handle the blood in Squid Game, you probably should skip this one.

This Spanish horror film does a lot with the time that it has, 1h 34m to be exact. Without being too heavy on the nose about what it is trying to say, you definitely understand what director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia is trying to hint at. We are complex human beings with a set of morals and ethical views, but how quickly will we turn against those when it is a matter of life and death?

The Platform sees people being placed on different levels in a brutalist style building. Each level (which is an unknown amount) contains two people who are prisoners, who must wait for food to be passed down to them. But there is a catch. At the very top, level zero, there is a grand buffet which is sent down the middle of the rooms. Once the food arrives to each pair, they must eat what they can or however much they think they should before it moves down to the next level. If everyone rations out the food, there will be enough for everyone. But again, we are flawed, greedy beings.

As you can imagine, when people get hungry and feel cheated, they get really angry. Heck, I get hungry if haven’t eaten a snack in two hours. Things start to get brutal very quickly and people start to turn on the morals they once held themselves to.

You can watch the trailer here.

The Platform is now streaming on Netflix.

Alice In Borderland (2020)

Image: Netflix

This show is incredible, dare I say better than Squid Game. In fact, so much comparison has been made of the two recently that the viewership of Alice in Borderland has reportedly sky-rocketed. Once you watch it, you will see why.

The premise is very similar to that of Squid Game, where three young friends (and a heap of others) find themselves in a deserted Tokyo. Every few nights they all have to play a survival game and in these games, lots and lots of people die a rather gruesome death. There are a few ways out of the games but as the friends quickly realise, it isn’t just inside the games where they fight to survive.

Alice In Borderland is actually based on a manga series that was written and illustrated by Haro Aso. The cinematography in this show is incredible and the scenery is everything you expect it to be. It even has touches of humour. It is a Japanese, sci-fi murder dream.

You can watch the trailer here.

Alice in Borderland is currently streaming on Netflix.

Memories of the Alhambra (2018)

Finished Squid Game
Image: Netflix

Okay hear me out. Memories of the Alhambra is technically classified as a romance series. But I think that the genre label limits this show. Whilst it may not be as bloody and gruesome as Squid Game, it definitely involves games and death. There was also definitely a bit of love and potential romance in Squid Game so I refuse to take this off the list.

Memories of the Alhambra is a Korean drama which focuses around an extremely advanced AR game that incorporates elements from every genre ever made (see why I hate labels). From sci-fi, fantasy, adventure to romance, this show truly has everything for everyone.

The AR allows you to see through contact lenses so you aren’t able to tell the difference between what is real life and game life. There is a whole bunch of fighting and really cool swords but who is to know if any of it is real or not. Here’s the kicker though: if there is a system glitch, users will feel pain and die from their wounds. The story follows Yoo Jin, who must find the missing (convenient) game coder and stop what is happening.

You can watch the trailer here.

Memories of the Alhambra is currently streaming on Netflix.

Extracurricular (2020)

Finished Squid Game
Image: Netflix

Whilst not necessarily involving murderous games or even much murder at all, Extracurricular is definitely one to watch for its intense social commentary. It does, however, feature the same premise and reasoning as some characters in Squid Game which is that people need money. In this instance, high school students need money to get educated or afford basic living needs.

The quiet and mysterious Jihoo is actually leading a sex ring so he can earn money to pay for his college tuition. This starts to get a little big ugly when some secrets are revealed and some unsavoury people get involved. This is rather ironic because Jihoo is an awkward teenager and yet he is involved in an incredibly dangerous industry. There is definitely some violent and tense scenes in the series but nothing to the scale of the others on this list.

What I like most about this show was that none of the characters are portrayed as good or evil. Everyone has moral failings and I think that like Squid Game, you understand and almost sympathise with the characters and their stories, but you are also mad at them for continuing to do dumb things. Extracurricular is perfect now you’ve finished Squid Game.

You can watch the trailer here.

Extracurricular is currently streaming on Netflix.


Gizmodo Movie Night is our fortnightly roundup of movie and TV recommendations for the weekend. If you’re ever stuck and looking for inspiration, check out our list and see what’s in store.

Stay tuned for the next edition of the column and check out our last one: Halloween Is Sorted With These Campy Horror Flicks.