By Rebecca Ceccatelli. Cover image via Netflix.
Shortly after the success of Baby Reindeer, which left us disturbed and kept us on the edge of our seats for 7 intense episodes, Netflix is set to release another gripping series that will shake our mental stability again in 2024. If we had to define in one word the first half of the upcoming lineup, it would be unsettling. Just one month after Baby Reindeer, another bolt from the blue hits the red N’s catalogue, delivering yet another healthy dose of social awareness while leaving us with a lingering sense of bitterness.
We’re talking about The 8 Show by Bae Jin Soo, which has been likened to Squid Game, Alice in Borderland, and even A Clockwork Orange. Whatever its relationship to the survival game genre, this Korean series has held our attention with its intense storyline. But what makes this disturbing content so compelling? Perhaps it’s the way it reflects our society and human nature, allowing us to see ourselves in the characters as they navigate their struggles on Floor 3, Floor 8, or Floor 1.
The opportunity of a lifetime or just another dramatic life?
It’s no coincidence that so many reviews of the series define a “grand metaphor of the world we live in”. But then, what is The 8 Show about?
There was nothing extraordinary about life in a very ordinary city. The person we will come to know as Piano 3 quits his modest job at a grocery store. He was so alienated by it that he knew the prices of various lighters by heart. So deeply full of debts, he decides to give up a life of hardships. Even the highest-paying job in the city wouldn’t be enough to repay his debts in a lifetime. He climbs up the railing of a bridge when he receives a message. A deposit of one million won has been made into his bank account, accompanied by the message “Donate to us the time you have decided to forgo”. This marks the beginning of a vicious cycle that pulls the protagonist into the spiral of The Program. What else did he have to lose? In the end, who wouldn’t be tempted by easy money when they have none of it?
A Question of Chances: Social Hierarchy and Cards
What would happen if a randomly chosen card determined your fate? The 8 Show embodies the bitterness of an unchosen life through the scene of a card selection, which determines your position, advantage or disadvantage, within the micro-society created in The Program. Piano 3 discovers he is not the only one who has dedicated his lost time to this apparently harmless game. The first voices he hears confirm the presence of other contestants. Each of them found themselves at the same table where Piano 3 picked his numbered card, and based on this, a room on a different floor was assigned to them. However, the sadistic inequality upon which the social structure was built is revealed when the participants meet. Each participant earns a substantial sum of money for every minute of participation in the program, with the amount varying depending on the floor assigned to them. The higher the floor, the greater the earnings. In a world where both earnings and prices are extraordinarily inflated, increased by 1000 times compared to market standards, the lack of control over one’s own fate can only leave a bitter taste in the mouth, especially when it is discovered that no opportunity for social mobility is guaranteed. This is where viewers may begin to feel personally addressed, considering the impact of being unable to choose the social class one is born into.
Maintaining Anonymity as a Sign of Social Conformity
In each episode, The 8 Show director Han Jae-rim introduces us to eight different characters, focusing on their traits and perspectives. The characters include the democratic one, the psychologically fragile one, the manipulative and the bullies, but also the dominated one, being the only one wearing a fake bowtie at the neck, almost like a servant forced to please others. However, we soon realise that, as we comment on their actions, we are unable to associate any names with them. You may hear them referred to as Floor 1 or Floor 2, but never by their names. Initially, it is the democratic Floor 7 that decides, for practical reasons, that none of them would learn each other’s names. Instead, each would become nothing more than a number associated with the floor of the building where their room is located. This reflects the standardisation to which we are subjected within our society; we become nothing more than a username, perhaps an IP address or an employee ID number. Surely, it only evokes an unhealthy unease within us.
In the face of increasingly violent scenes and a struggle for survival marked by overturned democracy and coups, one would normally feel disgusted. However, The 8 Show seems to revel in sadistic voyeurism. We continue to voyeuristically observe the suffering of others, which could easily be our own, driven by a fascination with delightful horror. However, even if we get to know the characters well to the point that we can almost predict their actions, there are highly influential people in the plot whose identities or even faces will never be revealed. It’s an unusual, sadistic audience that slowly reveals themselves as the ones controlling the characters’ fate according to their preferences: the more they like someone, the longer that person stays in the game, and the easier their money flows.
Many find this unsettling as they cannot identify a clear villain or hero. The presence of so much anonymity within a show that mirrors society can only make us reflect.
Then what is the message of The 8 Show on Netflix?
From a staging perspective, the minimalist sets in The 8 Show are striking, as the action takes place almost entirely within the game building. The use of lighting, photography, and solid colours in the location raises questions: is it just a dream or a set built in the style of The Truman Show? Life becomes a stage to perform on, seemingly real and inviting, but ultimately revealed as fiction, with fake ice cream shops, fake ice cream, fake pools, and even fake pockets in the character’s clothing.
Everything is fake, filtered. The fake food and pool represent the illusion we perpetuate, prioritising material possessions over enduring values that continue to diminish over time. In stark contrast, those who have never experienced and will never attain such material wealth are burdened by the awareness of being unable to access the essential elements that should be universally available: the ability to care for loved ones, the dignity of a decently paid job, and the fundamental right to belong in society.
In this final reflection, we ponder the contrast between abundance and scarcity in today’s world. We navigate the tension between possession and deprivation, agency and powerlessness, as well as identity and conformity. It may be our self-awareness that keeps us glued to the screen while we watch the show, but at the same time, it’s also the comfort that as long as it’s confined to the digital realm, it’s not real. However, when we use screens as a tool for self-reflection, we should ask ourselves: Is this the dystopian present we have brought upon ourselves?
