NetflixKarma is a new Netflix series from South Korea that revolves around crime, fate, greed, and retribution – here’s why it’s a must-watch for Squid Game fans.
Squid Game is the biggest ever Netflix show by some distance, so it’s no surprise that the streamer is trying to replicate that success.
Squid Game: The Challenge adapted the series as a reality game show, enabling members of the public to play games like Red Light, Green Light, Dalgona, Marbles, and Glass Bridge.
A new show called Karma takes a different approach, duplicating some of the more dramatic elements in a tale of six characters whose lives overlap and intertwine in devastating fashion. So here’s why Squid Game fans should check it out…
Like Squid Game, Karma concerns financial hardship
NetflixSquid Game is a show about contestants playing a series of games that are a matter of life and death. But it’s also a show about poverty and financial inequality, with poor people playing those games to win a cash prize that could change their lives.
Karma starts in much the same way, with Episode 1 focusing on a character who works in a warehouse for little pay, who finds himself with overdue rent and in credit card debt, while also owing money to a dangerous loan shark.
He can’t dig himself out of that hole by competing in Squid Game, however, so the character goes down an even darker path…
A tale of crime and punishment
NetflixSquid Game is filled with twists and turns concerning the identity of those playing the game, and the intentions of those overseeing it. Indeed the game itself is funded by a huge criminal enterprise, and Season 2 involves efforts to bring that operation to justice.
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Karma is also a tale of crime and punishment, though as the title suggests, it’s also about destiny and fate. In Episode 1, the protagonist makes some bad decisions early in the proceedings that have a fascinating knock-on effect later in the instalment, which also reverberate throughout the series.
But like in Squid Game, crime rarely pays in Karma, while greed results in punishment, and frequently something much worse.
Karma features Squid Game star Park Hae-soo
NetflixPark Hae-soo plays Cho Sang-woo – aka Player 218 – in Squid Game, and he also appears in Karma as a fascinating character who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time in Episode 2.
Consistent with the show’s conceit, what he witnesses – and how he reacts – has benefits in the short-term, but comes back to haunt the character later in the series, continuing the central theme of interconnectivity, as well as karma itself.
All six episodes of Karma stream on Netflix from April 4, 2024. Head here for another show to watch while you wait for Squid Game S3. While these are the best series on Netflix right now.