Top 10 Most Disturbing Squid Game Moments Season 1

Top 10 Most Disturbing Squid Game Moments

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the scariest and most unsettling scenes throughout “Squid Game.”

#10: The Marble Game

The entire marble game is one giant middle finger - both to the players and the audience. First, the gamemakers pull a fast one on the players by asking them to pair up. It’s only later that they discover they won’t be working as a team, but playing each other in a kill-or-be-killed marble game. This is disturbing enough, especially considering there are married couples in the group. We could only imagine the horror. But then we witness a whole swath of beloved characters being killed off in one fell swoop. Ji-yeong[a], Ali, and Oh Il-nam all die (or so we thought with the latter), and it makes for devastating viewing. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after this one.

#9: The VIPs

There’s something deeply unsettling about being watched by rich, anonymous men wearing golden animal masks. The VIPs appear late in the series, only showing up to watch the final two games. And their presence is unbelievably menacing. They watch the games with gleeful and voyeuristic enjoyment, displaying a complete moral detachment from basic human suffering. Furthermore, their anonymity adds a deeper layer to the unease, as the men are dehumanized and resorted to primal instincts related to violence and bloodshed. And lastly, the masks. Yikes. The VIPs represent the seedy, underground nature of the games to perfection - men living within a secret society and finding entertainment in the macabre.

#8: Jang Deok-su[b] Beats 271 To Death

Poor Player 271. He just wanted an egg. Jang Deok-su is angered by the meager food they are given and cheats others out of a meal by taking seconds. 271 confronts Deok-su and tries taking his drink, claiming that it is rightfully his. However, the glass breaks in the scuffle and Deok-su goes berzerk. He viciously beats the man to death in front of everyone, and 271’s prize money is added to the jackpot. The violence is scary, but even worse are the implications. The guards do nothing to stop Deok-su and the jackpot goes up following his demise, implying that a death doesn’t have to come via the games. Outright murder is not only accepted - it’s encouraged.

#7: The Tug of War Deaths

This scene is a great argument for why so many people were drawn to “Squid Game.” The games themselves are universal and easily-understood, but they come with macabre twists that have disturbing staying power. This is your basic tug-of-war, but it’s played on massive platforms that ensure the losing team falls to their deaths. And what horrifying visuals result. Both we and the other players are forced to watch large groups of people plummet hundreds of feet to their messy deaths, screaming and crying the whole way down. Even worse, we later see one player who survived the fall, implying that not all who lose die on impact. It’s a grotesque thought, and one we don’t really want in our heads.

#6: The Riot

We return to the egg debacle for this horrifying sequence involving a massive riot. Deok-su kills Player 198 because she snitched on him earlier, and this results in a huge brawl between a number of players. The violence is deplorable, and the fight proves a total free-for-all, with weapons like glass bottles, blankets, and metal bars being used to cut, strangle, and beat. The unchecked mania is a direct continuation of 271’s earlier death - not just because 198 snitched on Deok-su, but because everyone realized that murder was a viable way to cut the numbers. This is the consequence of that knowledge. In the end, 27 people are killed, representing one-quarter of the entire player pool.

#5: The Death of Sang-woo [c]

We knew it would likely come down to this, but we didn’t realize just how gut-wrenching it would actually be. Gi-hun faces off against his childhood best friend Sang-woo in the titular squid game. After a brutal fight in the rain, Gi-hun emerges victorious, having bloodied and battered his old buddy. However, he refuses to outright kill him, hoping to secure a majority vote in order to spare Sang-woo. But Sang-woo takes matters into his own hands - literally - and takes his own life with a small knife. It’s an absolutely brutal climax to the games, physically, mentally, and thematically.

#4: The Honeycomb Executions

There’s something inherently bone-chilling about the honeycomb executions. Unlike other games in the series, this one directly involves the guards, as they watch impassively over the players’ shoulders as they carve shapes out of dalgona. If they break the piece, or if they don’t finish in time, they are mercilessly executed with a revolver. The psychological pressure that the players are under emanates through the screen, resulting in a tense and deeply unsettling sense of terror. The executions themselves are also swift and brutal, with no room for negotiation or second chances. They’re completely impersonal, further lending to the realization that the guards are nothing but inhuman monsters willing to enforce the brutal rules of the games.

#3: Cremated

Most of the dead are put in coffins designed like gift boxes and cremated. This is horrifying on so many levels. The gift box design implies a type of gleeful offering and is in stark contrast to the violent nature of the deaths. The cremations themselves are also horribly impersonal. The bodies are mechanically packed and burned without ceremony, their family receiving no mementos. It’s a fantastic symbol of the players’ disposability. But wait, it gets worse. One player survives the game and tries escaping their coffin, but the guard simply pushes their fingers back in and nails it shut, dooming them to a painful death. It’s easily one of the most disquieting visuals in the entire series.

#2: Organ Harvesting

As we later learn, some of the bodies are not burned. Instead, they’re secretly taken to an underground lair and their organs are harvested by guards. Not much is known about the mechanics of this operation, but it doesn’t really matter. What we do know is that humans are being exploited for their organs, and that it is equal parts disturbing and disgusting. The underground organ harvesting adds yet another layer of dread and malice to the games, and like many aspects of the show, it is used for social commentary. The black market demands organs by any means necessary and is willing to ignore how they appear. Plus, the gore. Props to the makeup department, because…wow.

#1: Red Light, Green Light

If there’s one scene from “Squid Game” that will enter the halls of television history, it’s probably the Red Light, Green Light massacre. This is where the entire tone of the series shifted, going from a social drama about inequality to a bloody piece of horror. Both players and audiences react with horror when they realize the true nature of the games, as over half of the players are systematically gunned down and murdered. It’s simply a brilliant piece of television. The production values, the tone, the bloody carnage, that darned terrifying robot - all are excellent, and all established “Squid Game” as much-watch event TV. Highly disturbing TV, yes, but must-watch all the same.

Did we miss a scene that you love to hate? Let us know in the comments below!

[a]jee-YUNG https://www.yarn.co/yarn-clip/19d0c64c-89ba-4de3-8f07-db9999d60184
AW-lee https://www.yarn.co/yarn-clip/53762ff7-6c7d-491a-9fe4-4ca0129304d0
oh IL-nahm https://www.yarn.co/yarn-clip/8f96888e-0eab-438c-983c-c7efc3d58d5d
[b]jawng dock-SOO https://www.yarn.co/yarn-clip/0d3ca325-dc93-42f0-b6b7-9cc619c09e64
[c]sawng-WOO https://www.yarn.co/yarn-clip/865a7db1-bdca-45a7-a1d3-93d9b146b9bb
ghee-YUN https://www.yarn.co/yarn-clip/b8097e37-6731-4545-892d-7aa16dde501f