You’re not the only one who has been thinking only about Netflix’s mega-hit series ‘Squid Game’ for the last few days after binging through all nine episodes. Sad news for those people who are already anticipating the second season of ‘Squid Game’, director Hwang himself revealed that’s not in the books yet. However, you don’t need to be disappointed since there are some hidden gems out there that will give you the same mind-blowing feel as Squid Game. Here, I’ve compiled a list of movies and series like Squid Game that will satisfy your craving. Get ready for an adrenaline rush!
| Gantz
| Release Date 2010 | Cast Kazunari Ninomiya • Kanata Hongô • Ken’ichi Matsuyama | Runtime 2h 10min |
College student Kurono Kei notices former childhood friend Kato Masaru helping a drunk man who fell from a subway platform. Kei then jumps down to help his childhood friend. A few moments later, the subway train rapidly approaches and both men look on helplessly as their life is about to end. The next moment, Kei and Masaru find themselves in a strange apartment with a mysterious giant black sphere and others who have recently died. The massive black sphere in the center of the living room is “GANTZ”. GANTZ then assigns the people gathered in the room on missions to exterminate aliens. They receive points every time they survive from games. A total of 100 points will allow them to leave this purgatory-like place or send someone else back to life. If they fail, they can perish forever. (MyDramaList)
| Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu
| Release Date 2009 | Cast Tatsuya Fujiwara • Ken’ichi Matsuyama • Tarô Yamamoto | Runtime 2h 10min |
Kaiji Ito moves to Japan after graduating from high school. Unable to find a job and frustrated with society at large, Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalizing cars, and drinking booze. Two years later and his life no better, a debt collector named Endo arrives to collect money. The debt collector then offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 years paying off your loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay your debt and possibly make a whole lot more. Meanwhile, the unscrupulous Endo is actually conning Kaiji, believing he won’t come back from voyage. Kaiji is then up for the night of his life. (IMDb)
| Cube
| Release Date 1997 | Cast Nicole de Boer • Maurice Dean Wint • David Hewlett | Runtime 1h 30min |
Six different people, each from a very different walk of life, awaken to find themselves inside a giant cube with thousands of possible rooms. Each has a skill that becomes clear when they must band together to get out: a cop, a math whiz, a building designer, a doctor, an escape master, and a disabled man. Each plays a part in their thrilling quest to find answers for imprisonment. (IMDb)
| The Hunt
| Release Date 2020 | Cast Betty Gilpin • Hilary Swank Ike • Barinholtz | Runtime 1h 30min |
Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don’t know where they are — or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted, Crystal, turns the tables on her pursuers. (IMDb)
| Alice in Borderland
| Release Date 2020 | Cast Kento Yamazaki • Tao Tsuchiya • Nijirô Murakami | Runtime 50min(series) |
Arisu is a man without much money or luck. He currently doesn’t have a job as well. Out of the blue, a blinding light engulfs him one day in whose aftermath the city of Tokyo has lost all its inhabitants save Arisu and two friends. This is a dangerous and potentially fatal game of survival now in which they are forced to take part. (IMDb)
| Escape Room
| Release Date 2019 | Cast Taylor Russell • Logan Miller • Jay Ellis | Runtime 1h 39min |
Six strangers are given mysterious black boxes with tickets to an immersive escape room for a chance to win tons of money. Being locked in several rooms with extreme conditions, they discover the secrets behind the escape room and must fight to survive and to find a way out. (IMDb)
| As the Gods Will
| Release Date 2014 | Cast Nijirô Murakami • Ryûnosuke Kamiki • Nao Ômori | Runtime 1h 57min |
2nd-year high school student, Shun Takahata, lives an ordinary teenage life until one day he’s suddenly forced to participate in a series of children’s games such as “Daruma-san ga Koronda” with death as the penalty for losing. With no knowledge of who’s behind the games, he’s left with no other choice but to keep winning as his only means of protecting himself and his childhood friend, Ichika. Meanwhile, a troubled classmate, Takeru, seems to actually be relishing the opportunity to kill other students. (IMDb)
| Circle
| Release Date 2015 | Cast Allegra Masters • Aimee Mc Kay • Ashley Key | Runtime 1h 27min |
In a massive, mysterious chamber, fifty strangers awaken to find themselves trapped with no memory of how they got there. Every two minutes, one of them must die… Executed by an electrical pulse generated from a source within the chamber. At first, the attacks seem random, but, soon the strangers realize that they, as a group, have the power to decide who will be the next to be killed: by the power of the vote. Mob mentality at its finest hour. A chance to control the machine. How will they choose who deserves to die? What happens when there’s only one person left?
“Circle” is a film about humanity. How we value one another and how people react when they are forced to make decisions under the worst possible circumstances. It’s a film that speaks to the very core of what makes us human – Who we are, what we believe, and ultimately, the lengths we will go to in which to save ourselves. (IMDb)
| Battle Royale
| Release Date 2000 | Cast Tatsuya Fujiwara • Aki Maeda • Tarô Yamamoto | Runtime 2h |
Forty-two students, three days, one deserted Island: welcome to Battle Royale. A group of ninth-grade students from a Japanese high school has been forced by legislation to compete in a Battle Royale. The students are sent off to kill each other in a no-holds-barred game to the death until one survives — or they all die. Some decide to play the game like the psychotic Kiriyama or the sexual Mitsuko, while others are trying to find a way to get off the Island without violence. However, as the numbers dwindle is there any way for Shuya and his classmates to survive? (IMDb)
| The Hunger Games
| Release Date 2012 | Cast Jennifer Lawrence • Josh Hutcherson • Liam Hemsworth | Runtime 2h 22min |
In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’ young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. (IMDb)
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