Squid Game + Wes Anderson Vibes? Netflix's New K-Drama is Bizarrely Perfect

Summary

• Netflix has committed a lot of money to new Korean content.
• After the success of Squid Game, there is a new game-show thriller coming to our screens.
• An intriguing trailer showcases a beautifully stylish look that calls to mind the movies of Wes Anderson.

Netflix is betting a lot of money on content from South Korea – $2.5 billion to be exact, spread out between 2023 and 2027.

So far the gamble is paying off, with viewers from around the world becoming increasingly drawn to the high-stakes world of K-dramas. This includes romantic series (Her Private Life, Business Proposal), comedies (Chicken Nugget), historical dramas (Mr Sunshine) and even zombie thrillers (All of Us Are Dead, Kingdom). Then of course there's the unique genre combos that make K-dramas so fun, like the romance/social commentary/serial killer mystery of Crash Course in Romance.

Among the new K-dramas coming our way is a show that seems to combine the game-show horror of Squid Game with a quirky, colorful aesthetic that might remind you of a certain American director.

What's The Show?

The 8 Show is an intriguing new series written and directed by Hae Jae-rim, whose work on The Face Reader, The King, and Emergency Declaration has made him one of the most acclaimed creators working in South Korea today.

In The 8 Show, eight contestants are locked in a building for 100 days to compete for a prize of $40 million dollars. The building has eight stories, and the contestants just need to outlast each other to win the prize. The catch? Everything they need to live – including food and water – must be purchased by pulling money from the pot of prize money. And everything they purchase costs about 1,000 times more than it would in the real world.

We don't know much more than that, but we've seen enough K-drama thrillers to suspect that the contestants won't take long to do some basic math… like the fact that if some of them are dead, the prize money will probably last a lot longer.

Familiar Faces

You may recognize the contestants of The 8 Show by their previous work. Cast members include Ryu Jun-yeol (Reply 1988, Lost), Park Jeong-min (Hellbound), Lee Yul-eum (Nevertheless), Park Hae-joon (Arthdal Chronicles), Lee Joo-young (Believer), Moon Jeong-hee (Times) and Bae Sung-woo (the upcoming Light Shop).

Fans of pop sensation IU were thrilled to learn that she was also cast in the series, but she later pulled out due to her extremely busy schedule. Instead, her part will be played by Chun Won-hee (Unlocked).

A Beautiful Look

The description for The 8 Show probably calls to mind all of the terror of Netflix's last game-show drama, Squid Game. But while The 8 Show definitely sounds like it has some similarities to Squid Game, its trailer shows off a much more beautiful aesthetic. Bright colors, twee clothing, and loving close-ups of bright inanimate objects call to mind the work of American filmmaker Wes Anderson.

Just watch the Netflix 'date announcement' trailer and you'll see what we mean. The close-up of a film projector – washed out, perfectly centered shots – inanimate objects lovingly saturated in bright reds. It all looks exactly like a Wes Anderson movie, except with a distinctly ominous undertone.

Anderson's films are known for their quirky, unique aesthetic and stylish eccentricity. The combination of Squid Game's thriller vibes and the look of, say, The Grand Budapest Hotel has us very much looking forward to this new Netflix offering.

The 8 Show will drop on Netflix on May 17, 2024.