Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Violent teen bullying game has smoking, drug use, innuendo.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Pyramid Game
What's the Story?
Adapted from the South Korean webcomic Dalgonyak, PYRAMID GAME tells the story of an unsuspecting high school student who's trying to survive a well-organized bullying contest. Sung Su-ji (Kim Ji-yeon, aka Bona) is the daughter of a military officer, and is used to transferring schools and easily making friends. But when she transfers to Baekyeon's Girls' High School, Sung discovers that fitting in requires participating in a brutal popularity competition. Like the other students, once a month she must use a phone app to rank each student according to how popular she is. The person who they decide to rank at the bottom of the list is mercilessly and violently bullied by her classmates until she's able to find a way to move up the ranks again. But Sung is treated nicely by the sweet Baek Ha-rin (Jan Da-ah), who never seems to be targeted. Meanwhile, desk mate Myeong Ja-eun (Ryu Da-In) refuses to play or fight back when she's abused. The teachers don't seem to notice what is going on, so it's up to Sung to figure out how to climb the popularity ladder while figuring out how to end the game forever.
Is It Any Good?
The Korean series, which is narrated by Sung Su-ji's inner voice, creates a story world that combines the edgy teen attitudes of Mean Girls with the unapologetic viciousness of Squid Game. The upper-class, privileged ring leaders delight in torturing their targets between classes and during the lunch break. Meanwhile, the less popular young women have normalized being in constant fear while on school grounds. In between the bullying scenes, which are often long and painful to watch, viewers slowly learn more about why the game is played and who's responsible for keeping it going. But these reveals can sometimes be hard to follow as secondary plot lines slowly reveal themselves. Pyramid Game does offer some genuine surprises and suspenseful moments, but the show's overall violent content makes it hard to watch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
TV Details
- Premiere date : May 30, 2024
- Cast : Kim Ji-yeon , Jan Da-ah , Ryu Da-In
- Network : Paramount+
- Genre : Reality TV
- TV rating :
- Last updated : June 3, 2024
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