The #1 Overlooked Storytelling Device That Makes “Squid Game” Better Than “The Hunger Games”

“Sounds like The Hunger Games.”

That was my first response when I heard about Squid Game.

Forget about the word “game” in the title….just the premise: a group of people trying to be the last one standing for fame and perhaps fortune.

I’m late to Squid Game if catching a cultural phenomenon 10 days after it appears…and I’m only 2 episodes in…

However, one thing key storytelling ingredient really sets this apart from The Hunger Games:

Sheer desperation.

The opening episode does a great job of establishing just the lengths that one of these players will go to for money, and to lose it.

They are addicts and have no way out, which is why they sign up in the first place (and then return).

Their current life situation is desperate, something that The Hunger Games and like-minded shows/movies set up, but rarely explore in much depth.

The main character Seong is shown wasting money, getting money, and then being threatened about money before stumbling into money again.

In Hunger Games or Snowpiercer or other class narratives, we are told about the desperation and get…