The ‘real-life Squid Game’ that has everyone talking about Korean reality TV

If you’ve opened up Netflix any time in the past couple of weeks, there’s a good chance you’ve been bombarded with footage of dozens of jacked South Koreans pushing around giant rocks and/or fighting to the death.

Physical: 100 is a new reality show dubbed by many as a “real-life Squid Game” and it has been the top non-English series on the streaming platform worldwide for four weeks straight. After racking up more than 45 million viewing hours, it’s also the second most-popular show overall (second only to pulpy US serial killer drama You).

“Physical: 100” is one of Netflix’s most popular TV shows right now in Australia.Credit: Netflix

The series is so popular, in fact, it’s now kickstarting an unprecedented production boom in Korean reality shows, meaning we could see plenty more international non-scripted content like this on our streaming services in the near future.

Back up, did you say “fight to the death”?

Yeah, look, that was a bit dramatic. But it’s not entirely my fault. Physical: 100 is a Gladiators-style reality TV series based around challenges (or “quests”) involving physical strength and endurance, but it actively frames those challenges as matters of “survival” where “one body will remain standing”.

The contestants – 100 bodybuilders, gymnasts, MMA fighters and so on – are thrown into a big spooky arena with sculpted moulds of their headless torsos, faceless men in jumpsuits, and a screen featuring a giant robotic eye that announces the tasks they must complete to stay in the game.

OK, I get the Squid Game comparison. So, it’s basically taking the same premise and aesthetics but without the murder?

Yes and no! The “quests” are definitely reminiscent of the eerie childlike games we saw in Squid Game (which was a runaway hit for Netflix back in 2021), and that’s helped build intrigue around the show. The first challenge, for instance, sees contestants hanging from metal bars for as long as they can – like kids on a jungle gym – and another has them lugging around bags from a giant sandpit.

And, as is the case in Hwang Dong-hyuk’s dystopian drama, contestants are competing to win a cash prize: 300 million South Korean won ($337,000).

But the lack of cold-blooded murder isn’t the only thing that differentiates the two series. In fact, as many critics have noted, Physical: 100 is actually a really wholesome show.

A reality show about “fighting to the death” to find the “perfect body” doesn’t sound very wholesome. Isn’t everyone just watching to see big muscly people suffer and crash into each other?

That is definitely part of the appeal, but it goes beyond that.

Contestants cheer each other on from the sidelines during a physical challenge.Credit: Netflix

As passionate as the contestants are about the competition itself (there’s a healthy amount of bravado on display), they’re also incredibly supportive of one another. Athletes cheer each other on from the sidelines and offer frequent compliments.

Particular respect is shown to older competitors. And, though there are some uncomfortable moments, women are also meaningfully included throughout – competing alongside the men and mostly celebrated for their differing strengths.

As BuzzFeed writer Venessa Wong recently said, this has been particularly rewarding to see for many Asian viewers to see as “mainstream depictions of power in the US have rarely included Asian people, who have largely existed in the background in America, obscured by stereotypes about being passive and complacent”.

“Physical: 100” features both men and women competing against one another in a series of physical “quests”.Credit: Netflix

From Parasite to Squid Game to Physical: 100, it feels like South Korean film and TV, in particular, is constantly blowing up on the world stage these days. Should we expect to see more of this in the mainstream?

Absolutely. At the start of 2022, the VP of content for Netflix Korea, Don Kang, said in an interview that “Korean content is becoming one of the main pillars of global entertainment” and pointed out the streaming service was producing 25 original South Korean shows, compared to just 15 the year before.

That trend is now continuing into 2023, with a particular focus on unscripted content. Variety recently reported that Netflix will release eight Korean reality shows this year, which is double the number from the year before.

This includes the third season of already successful dating show Single’s Inferno, as well as a new “female-led combat survival show” called Siren: Survive the Island and a “mind game survival show” called Devil’s Plan.

That demand is being driven by audiences, who are increasingly open to international content. The BBC reported this week that 60 per cent of all Netflix members watched a Korean TV show in 2022. And the enormous success of Physical: 100 is encouraging both producers and distributors that there’s a hunger for even more.

Case in point: Amazon Prime Video has also decided to get in on the action. Its first Korean reality show, Jinny’s Kitchen – which features celebrities including Parasite actor Choi Woo-shik and BTS member V cooking street food in Mexico – has just started airing.

Correction: an earlier version of this story said that Jinny’s Kitchen was coming later this year. The first episode is available on the streaming service now.

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