TV Trailers – Squid Game

It somehow feels much longer than a year has gone by since the release of the first series of Squid Game (Yes, I know it was actually released 14 months ago, but I only really started watching it about this time last year)! It really does feel like more than a year has passed by, but maybe this is due to me struggling to actually finding something to watch in that space of time. But finding something to follow Squid Game felt like a sheer impossibility, as it’s quite possibly the best drama series I have ever watched!

But whilst I could do a post on the show’s pure perfection; that could take me some time to write and could create a potentially record-breaking length of blog post. So, for now I am just going to focus on its trailer.

The trailers first few seconds really work well at drawing you in whilst hiding as much information as possible. From the start it looks like some kind of mass kidnapping drama, as several members of the public are picked up by strange pink uniformed men, before then being taken to some large complex, and having their clothes changed. This then filters into the basic structure as to why so many people have been taken. They are all living on the financial edge, with debts they can’t possibly pay off. Whilst we receive this backstory, we are visually treated to this psychedelic world of bright colours, mysterious rooms and enigmatic people.

Then we come to the first game; featuring a giant robot, and instructions for these adults to play the school playground game of Red-Light Green-Light. Then within seconds we reach the point where you realise that these games feature winners, and losers; with the losers paying with their lives. This is the moment where the series really does come across as what would happen if you crossed Takeshi’s Castle, with The Hunger Games!

Now what happens comes the juicy prize money showed off; and that those who win all six games, will become rather rich. This then introduces the backstabbing nature of humanity, as some players decide to thin the herd. This is then followed by a quick montage of everything mentioned above, and more, with suggestions of others in masks, colours, drama, new characters, and other games to be played. And whilst all this is going on, we get that delightfully sinister sounding music, which heightens the tension, mystery and drama, whilst giving the image of a spider plotting how it will both catch and eat its prey.

It’s a really cool trailer, as it doesn’t hide it’s content, and shows off this bright colourful world, but with a dark underbelly. But the trailer also hides information, information you can only possibly learn if you watch the show itself!