What if Netflix had found the spiritual successor to Squid Game? Say hello to Dead-End Job, a new Korean series landing on the streaming platform on 30 October, just in time for Halloween. Which suits the show nicely, built as it is around a job that pays a fortune on one condition: staying alive through some seriously dangerous situations. The pitch borrows a fair bit from Squid Game, in fact, since we follow a young man drowning in debt who takes a job paying 50 times the minimum wage, only to discover that every shift could cost him his life. Have a look at the trailer before reading on.
A gig paying 50 times the minimum wage
Obviously, while the concept and its high-risk assignments recall Squid Game, the two shows don't really work the same way. Where Hwang Dong-hyeok's series dreamed up a competition built around lethal children's games, Dead-End Job turns the world of work into an out-and-out torture chamber. We follow the misadventures of Hyeok-jun, a young man weighed down by heavy debts and fast running out of options. Then he crosses paths with the "Spider Staffing Agency", a temp agency that is a little unusual, and also very peculiar, which offers him a wage that's hard to turn down: 50 times the hourly minimum. Except that Hyeok-jun very quickly discovers that every working day can turn into a full-blown fight for survival.
For now, the first trailer is too short to make much out, but we do see the young man sent into what looks like an ordinary corner shop. The situation goes south quickly, starting with an attack by moths, before a thoroughly unnerving clown turns up. We don't know what the challenges set for him involve, but the more missions Hyeok-jun completes, the higher the pay climbs, which pushes him to take on new tasks despite the risks.
Netflix is hunting for its next Korean phenomenon
On the casting front, Hyeok-jun is played by Lee Jae-wook, whom Netflix subscribers will have already seen in several Korean productions. He stars opposite Lee Hee-jun, who plays the mysterious head of the Spider Staffing Agency, as well as Go Min-si and Kim Min-ha. Behind the series is Han Jun-hee, who worked on D.P. and Weak Hero Class 2. Directing duties go to Kim Da-min, who also co-wrote A Killer Paradox and directed the film 'Makgeolli Will Tell You'.
Comparisons with Squid Game are obviously hard to avoid, not least because Netflix is almost certainly trying to find a new formula capable of riding the Squid Game wave. Worth remembering that Hwang Dong-hyuk's series became one of Netflix's biggest phenomena, and its three seasons still rank among the platform's most-watched non-English-language productions, with more than 603 million combined views. That's on a par with KPop Demon Hunters, just to give you a yardstick.
Netflix is also preparing another series that should play on that same Squid Game proximity: Quiztopia, a dystopian Japanese production due in December 2026, which will likewise build its story around a lethal competition. Dead-End Job arrives on Netflix on 30 October 2026, just before Halloween. Which is less than a month away, when you think about it.
