STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The hit Netflix show "Squid Game" is now considered its biggest original-series launch ever.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The South Korean show is a survival thriller about a group of adults in financial despair who are forced to play children's games. The winner gets a massive cash prize.
INSKEEP: And the losers do not make it out alive.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SQUID GAME")
JUNG-JAE LEE: (As Gi-hun Seong, speaking Korean).
(YELLING)
INSKEEP: For example, there's a game of tug of war, and if you're pulled into the middle, you fall to your death.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SQUID GAME")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, yelling).
SO YUN UM: I have never felt so passionate about a tug of war scene - just the desperation in their face. And you can really feel it. It's just an orchestra of a scene that is just beautifully played out.
INSKEEP: That's So Yun Um, a Korean American filmmaker in Los Angeles and a fellow at the Center for Asian American Media.
UM: One of the beautiful parts about "Squid Game" is how jarring it is. And so it really makes you kind of perk up your ears and pay attention.
MARTÍNEZ: But some critics argue "Squid Game" is too violent. So Yun Um doesn't see it that way.
UM: I think the violence is there for a reason. You just have to prepare yourself for the absolute worse and then some. But it's worth it.
INSKEEP: When you watch this show, it becomes apparent it's a critique of capitalism. The theme exposes South Korea's debt crisis.
MARTÍNEZ: Meanwhile, a South Korean internet provider is suing Netflix because too many people watched "Squid Game" and caused major outages.
(SOUNDBITE OF 23'S "PINK SOLDIERS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
