‘Squid Game’ director Hwang Dong-hyuk on his next—even more violent—production

Hwang argues that the violence in the series represents the reality of those living without a safety net. “In the game, if you lose, you are killed with a gun. In society, if you lose in the competition [of life], you fall—that is ‘social death’,” he says, referring to the concept of losing one’s social identity, connectedness and well-being. By setting these brutal acts in “kid-friendly” environments, Hwang creates a contrast that heightens the dramatic impact and forces the audience to confront the cruelty of the system itself.

Despite the brutality of the show’s storytelling, Hwang insists that his primary focus is always on humanity and the choices individuals make when pushed to the limit. He points to his 2017 historical epic The Fortress as a prime example of this preoccupation. The film is set in 1636, during the Qing invasion of Joseon, Korea’s imperial dynasty from 1392 to 1910. “Both The Fortress and Squid Game are about choices,” Hwang says. The film depicts a king trapped in a mountain citadel, forced to choose between a humiliating surrender to save his people or a dignified death that would lead to their slaughter. In Squid Game, the protagonist Seong Gi-hun represents the struggle to maintain one’s humanity in a world designed to strip it away. Hwang often filmed Seong in close-up or slow motion to emphasise his internal conflict, confusion, pain and hesitation when he is forced to choose between betraying his friends for his own survival or saving them out of conscience.

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The director’s principle is to never lose sight of “affection and concern for people”, even in the darkest of tales, and believes that portraying profound tragedy is the most effective way to reveal the true nature of the human spirit. Take Squid Game character Kang Sae-byeok for example, a North Korean defector who joins the game to buy her scattered family’s entrance into South Korea. If most of the players cheat and kill without hesitation to get to the next rounds, Kang serves as the director’s champion, representing kindness, strength and courage. Not only does she show mercy and rescue Seong several times, even when she is also struggling, she also makes a pact with Seong that whoever wins will take care of the other person’s family.

While Hwang’s productions are mostly Korean scripts and set in Korea, they resonate globally. He credits this to his six years living in the US, where he studied film at the University of Southern California. He took away far more than technical skills, which he believes could be learnt anywhere; the experience gave him the broad vision he needed to navigate cultures new to him. “In the US, I had to survive in a culture where I didn’t know the language or the people,” he recalls. Being an outsider helped him understand that while cultural contexts differ, human emotions are universal. He was also encouraged by his professor at USC to look within for stories, rather than just making something that looks like a Hollywood success. Hwang in turn encourages young filmmakers to seek out these “shocks” to their own cultural systems. “It’s not just about learning film technology; it’s about learning about people and cultures. That is what allowed me to launch Squid Game on the global market,” he says.

As one of the leading figures of hallyu, or the “Korean Wave”, Hwang feels a sense of responsibility for the future of the industry. He says, with a touch of irony, that, while his Netflix hit is seen as a highlight of Korean success, he never explicitly set out to make a hallyu work—he simply wanted to tell the stories that interested him. That being said, he would like to see more balance in the film industry globally. “For a long time, the dominant culture has been western,” he says. He envisions a future where East Asian cultures— specifically those of China, Japan and South Korea— collaborate and grow together to create a cultural force that can stand alongside the west.

Speaking at the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong earlier this year, he pointed to the success of film festivals across Asia as a vital step towards this goal. “We haven’t had enough exchange or synchronisation in the past,” he says, commenting on how he hopes to see stories by and about the Asian experience for the global audience. “I hope we can move faster so that it’s not just western culture, but eastern culture spreading across the globe.

“I want to create stories that make people think, and I hope that through these lessons, history does not repeat its darkest moments.”

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