Netflix’s ‘Squid Game Meets From’ Thriller Series Is Fantasy Horror Done Right

Published Nov 14, 2026, 10:01 AM EST

Sean is a senior writer for ScreenRant and has been writing about new TV releases since December 2023. He has received multiple advance screenings of popular shows and ideated his own coverage read by hundreds of thousands of readers.

Sean is a self-published author of a Western novel. Sean has also written award-winning opinion pieces related to local politics while getting his Bachelor's degree in journalism.

Sign in to your ScreenRant account

A Netflix thriller series with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes combines Squid Game with From to create a masterclass in fantasy horror. As two of the biggest viral sensations Netflix has had in the 2020s, Squid Game and From are also two of the best shows on Netflix. They also have quite a bit of overlap; both are at least horror adjacent, both have some great visuals and cinematography, and both heavily feature mystery elements.

Ostensibly in an effort to recapture some of the widespread popularity of From and Squid Game, Netflix has a show that combines some of the best elements from both shows. Dead-End Job, a Korean horror series, follows Hyeok-jun (Lee Jae-wook) as he begins working temp jobs for a mysterious organization known as the Spider Agency. Each of these jobs pits Hyeok-jun against a new supernatural entity in a story that has already been compared to Jujutsu Kaisen, the smash-hit anime series.

While it isn't yet clear if Dead-End Job will get a second season, the first eight episodes alone are already impressive in their own right. The show boasts a perfect score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and has a still-respectable 73% approval rate from viewers. Most importantly, Dead-End Job offers the exact same blend of horror and mystery that made both From and Squid Game breakout hits.

Dead-End Job Is A Horror Mystery Box Like From

From gained massive popularity for putting its horror elements into a mystery box format, and Dead-End Job largely does the same thing. Like From, the central mystery of Dead-End Job unravels very gradually over time. As more information is revealed about Hyeok-jun's job and the Spider Agency acting as his employer, more questions arise. Both shows are basically puzzles for the viewers to solve by discerning truth from lies, connecting evidence, and trying to find logic in the supernatural.

Dead-End Job, quite noticeably, also borrows From's love of supernatural horror. Just as the residents of the unnamed town in From have to deal with monsters from the forest, Hyeok-jun has to deal with everything from rat monsters to horrifying clowns. Each job presents Hyeok-jun with a new form of torment and a new entity he has to figure out. From and Dead-End Job are two of the most terrifying shows on Netflix, hands-down.

Dead-End Job Also Has Squid Game’s K-Drama & Game Aspects

Image via Netflix

Dead-End Job draws some natural comparisons to Squid Game simply by virtue of being a Netflix original Korean drama, but their similarities run much deeper than their country of origin. Thematically, Dead-End Job and Squid Game have a lot in common. Both shows focus on impoverished people struggling under the burden of massive debt who, at the end of their ropes, turn to malicious organizations for a chance to make some money. Through that premise, both shows have pointed rebukes of capitalism and the evils it can spur people to endure.

As part of that premise, both Squid Game and Dead-End Job force their protagonists to do increasingly dangerous and terrifying things in order to earn the money they're after. Both of the evil organizations even gamify this struggle in a way. Squid Game adds a deadly edge to classic children's games, while Dead-End Job turns Hyeok-jun's jobs into tests of endurance with their own sets of rules and compounding monetary rewards. Dead-End Job outright compares those jobs to difficult video games.

Squid Game and Dead-End Job also share some hallmarks of K-Drama storytelling. Both protagonists have families they're fighting for and have to navigate the more intricate parts of South Korean society. While Squid Game heavily draws on Korean children's games, Dead-End Job centers around Korean mythology and folklore. They also both boast some of the finest actors in Korea. In short, if you liked Squid Game, you're going to like Dead-End Job for the same reasons.

Cast

• 

  Go Min-si

  Yeon-joo

• Lee Jae-wook

  Byeon Hyuk-joon

• Kim Min-ha

  Byeon Ji-yoon

• Lee Hee-jun

  Kang-joon / Mr. S