New Netflix Survival Drama “The 8 Show” Receives Good Reviews, Ryu Jun-yeol Praised For Excellent Acting

Netflix recently introduced the new original series “The 8 Show” after struggling with the poor performances of “Chicken Nugget” and “Goodbye Earth”. Upon hearing the title, many people thought it was a variety show like “Physical: 100”, however, “The 8 Show” turned out to be a survival and thriller drama similar to “Squid Game”.

On the evening of May 17th, “The 8 Show” released all 8 episodes and immediately became a hot topic. The drama tells the story of 8 unrelated people participating in a survival game without knowing who organizes it. The only common thing is that these 8 people are not satisfied with their current lives and some even think of death. Therefore, they are willing to spare the time to join the game either to earn an enormous prize money or just to have fun. In the place built for the game, 8 participants take turns to choose the floor they like. There, money will be counted per minute and each floor is equivalent to a different level. The 8th floor is the highest place and also where they can earn the most money.

In order to continue playing the game and earn as much money as they want, the participants must find out the rules behind the games, from how to get to the WC to managing money to buy expensive necessary goods. The game only ends when someone dies, which means it protects the participants and anyone can be the winner with the money they earn by themselves. However, the more the participants get immersed in the game, they begin to become competitive upon realizing the levels according to the floors.

Unlike “Squid Game”, “The 8 Show” doesn’t have many actors and spectacular scenes but it still brings interesting survival game experiences to viewers. The characters’ settings and personalities were so well developed. Each character represents a type of person belonging to a specific class in society, leading to issues such as class division, confusion, and jealousy. Although all the characters’ stories are ironic, some cause frustration to viewers while others draw sympathy. In general, the storyline is more interesting than recent Netflix series and captivating enough to keep viewers watching until the end,

Viewers also poured compliments on the acting performance of the cast. The 8 participants were perfectly portrayed by trustworthy actors Ryu Jun-yeol, Chun Woo-hee, Park Jung-min, Lee Yul-eum, Park Hae-joon, Lee Joo-young, Moon Jeong-hee and Bae Seong-woo. In particular, Ryu Jun-yeol’s role is very important as he introduces the story and opens the game. Prior to the series premiere, Ryu Jun-yeol was criticized due to his private life controversy so many viewers were worried that his issues would affect the drama’s performance. However, his acting and expressions in the drama are so good that no one can hate him.

Source: K14, wikitree