[dagw]

I don't understand the appeal of Squid Game. It's a very thin metaphor around super shocking imagery

Sounds to me like you understand the appeal of Squid Game perfectly :)

Squid Game is very deep

I don't think many people are saying that Squid Game itself is very deep, rather that it seems to work as a catalyst for many to have deeper conversations about these topics that they haven't really been having before.