The Contestant (2023) review

Actor/comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu - better known as "Nasubi" (which is Japanese for "eggplant") - leaves his native Fukushima to work in Tokyo and is selected to take part in the game show Susunu! Denpa Shōnen where has to stay in a single room without clothing and the only way he can survive is by entering sweepstakes contests in magazines (where he wins dog food, rice, car tires, etc.) - after he clears $1 million yen the "challenge" is supposed to end, but then he's flown to South Korea where he has to do it again.  Although the psychological aspect of this true story is somewhat of interest - Nasubi says he was bullied a lot as a child (for having a long face), which might explain why he was so fearful of producer Toshio Tsuchiya - and, years later, he admits the loneliness and lack of human interaction was taking its toll on his mental health, but the clips they do show of him "seem" like he takes delight in winning oddball items and he's repeatedly mugging for the camera ... but this could have possibly been a defense mechanism.  As one of the first reality shows it comes across as needlessly cruel, yet programs that have followed it (Survivor, Naked and Afraid, etc.) do as well ... and Nasubi found a new calling when he returned to his hometown following the nuclear accident that took place there in 2011 (he also successfully climbed Mt. Everest!).