The most-watched Netflix series ever is back with its third and final season. In Squid Game, hundreds of people compete for a huge cash prize, often with deadly consequences. Will the final chapter be a worthy farewell to the Korean hit?
NRC – 4 stars
“The global popularity of the first season of the series was explained at the time by the fact that many viewers recognized their own country in the South Korean dystopia of inequality, debt burden, and the enormous gap between rich and poor.”
“However, culture should stimulate the imagination, not paralyze it. It would therefore be nice if Squid Game could serve as a warning for how we don’t want to end up – and make us think about how we can turn the tide.”
AD – 4 stars
“The third season of Squid Game is a lot more cynical than we are used to from the pitch-black series. For example, we have to say goodbye to a few beloved characters, but the way they meet their end is in many cases unnecessarily brutal. It is clear that creator/director/writer Hwang Dong-hyuk is completely done with the series and destructively concludes the story.”
“Despite a few blemishes, Squid Game (more than ever in this third season) knows how to show the dark side of humanity. Give someone the chance to become rich and they turn into inhuman monsters who literally walk over dead bodies. That chilling message still hits hard.”
de Volkskrant – 3 stars
“It must be said that the makers have again come up with particularly inventive ways to set the players against each other, with a game of jump rope at a great height as a particularly oppressive scene.”
“The stakes have only increased with the entry of a new participant, which we will not reveal anything about, no matter what that last episode will bring.”
Het Parool – does not give stars
“There is again a lot happening at the same time in the last six episodes (the very last of which was not available to the press). There are enough characters to empathize with, such as the old woman Jang and the pregnant Jun-He, but also enough players who are so annoying that the viewer is happy when they kick the bucket. In this way, the latest Squid Game also knows how to appeal to the bloodlust of the viewer himself again.”