Hellbound Season 2 Review: Takes Us Into A World Shaken By Conflicting Religious Ideologies
Cast: Yang Ik-june, Kim Hyun-joo, Yoo Ah-in, Park Jeong-min, Won Jin-ah Jin-ah
Created By: Choi Kyu-seok
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars)
Exactly three years Hellbound Season 2 is now available on Netflix, the supernatural horror series was directed by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan, Peninsula) and co-created by Choi Kyu-seok (who is also the author of the webtoon on which it is based), it is finally time for its sequel. Hellbound, which is in our opinion one of the most original and best-made series among those produced by South Korea for Netflix, focuses on themes such as the power of religious faith on human beings and the danger of extremism and is capable of capturing even the viewer who usually does not approach genre products like these. Written by Choi Gyu-Seok and directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the series once again transports the audience to an apocalyptic Seoul, where mysterious supernatural beings pass death sentences to humans, then cruelly execute them and banish them to hell.
But what does the hell of Hellbound really look like? And are these terrifying otherworldly entities really instruments of divine justice or is there a darker truth behind their punishments? Hellbound Season 2 picks up the story four years after the twist that closed the previous installment of episodes: what if the damned could come back to life? The first to do so is Mrs. Park, who we saw being taken to hell live on national television in the first season. What happened to her while she was dead? Together with the protagonists of this story – we will meet old characters, but we will also get to know new arrivals – we ask ourselves what it means to be sinners, what happens in the afterlife, and what the meaning of our human existence is; the most important questions around which the season revolves, however, are linked to the extremes to which people can go to obtain and maintain power over others, how easy it is to exploit their faith to control them and thus shape the world in which they live.
Hellbound Season 2 Review: The Story Plot
As we were saying, the story picks up four years after the first season ended. Mrs. Park has mysteriously returned to life and is now in the hands of the New Truth, the religious cult that developed following the appearance of the first infernal envoys who take sinners to hell. The forces in play, in addition to the New Truth, are different: on one side there are the followers of the arrowhead, transformed into true fanatics and completely distanced from the “official” doctrines; on the other, there is Soto, the secret association of which Min Hye-jin (Kim Hyun-Joo) is a part, and which took care of saving the newborn who in the last season survived, thanks to the sacrifice of her parents, the arrival of the creatures. After 4 years, society is more than ever on the brink of chaos, opposing ideologies are trying to be elevated to “universal truth” and it seems impossible to bring the situation back under control. Also shaking things up is a new character, Lee Sugyeong (Moon So-ri), the secretary of the new president of the country, a spokesperson of a political class that would like to rise above religious clashes and control their outcomes without exposing itself.
No one, however, expects that someone else will soon be brought back to life, someone who more than anyone can move the needle of the balance in a world at the mercy of so many opposing currents… The very first episode of Season 1 had its world premiere at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), marking a major milestone as the first Korean TV series to be included in this prestigious film festival. The episode opens with an anonymous man in a Seoul bar, visibly tense and distressed, nervously checking the time on his cell phone. Suddenly, at 1:20 PM, a terrible rumbling sound from underground causes chaos among the people present, while three hideous and gigantic demons materialize in the streets. Within moments, the three entities brutally attack the man and burn him, reducing him to a pile of ash and bones. The city is thrown into panic, as men and women begin to see mysterious “angels of death” who announce to them the day and time when the demons will come to take them to hell.
Neither the police nor the government can provide a logical and rational explanation for this absurd paranormal phenomenon that seems to herald the end of the world. It is in this atmosphere of desperation and bewilderment that a new religion emerges, the New Truth Society, founded by President Jung Jin-su (played in the first season by Yoo Ah-in) and determined to spread terror through a doctrine that interprets the sentences and executions of demons as divine punishments for unforgivable sins. As Jin-su’s sect gains more and more credibility and followers, lawyer Min Hye-jin (Kim Hyun-Joo) and detective Jin Kyunghun find themselves having to work together to protect the defenseless Park Jung-ja (Kim Shin-rok) from the New Truth.
After receiving the sentence, Jung-ja is tracked down by Jin-su, who tries to convince her to broadcast her execution live and publicly, promising in exchange to guarantee a future for her two children so that they can survive without her. Following Jung-ja’s tragic death, the situation escalates: new sects emerge, including the radical group of violent extremists Arrowhead, which begins to dominate the streets with ferocity and unjustified aggression. Scared and heartbroken, Hye-jin desperately tries to find out what is behind these executions and who President Jin-su really is. Her investigations lead her to Pastor Kim Jeong-chil, who reveals that the phenomenon is not the work of God and that the executions occur randomly, without taking into account the sins committed. He also adds that Jin-su himself had received a death sentence years before and that that very evening his end would come, delivering The New Truth into the hands of the pastor.
Hellbound Season 2 Review and Analysis
As we said at the beginning, Hellbound is one of the most thematically original products offered by Netflix: the narrative development is extremely interesting and engaging, forcing the viewers to question themselves on truly universal themes. What would happen if God, an intelligible and mysterious god, became part of our lives? And if not only sinners but also innocent people were punished, to what extent can we as human beings try to understand God’s choices? Hellbound Season 2, even more than its first season, questions the nature of sects and extremism, analyzing how easy it is to exploit faith and take control of people, especially in a world that is becoming increasingly dangerous and chaotic, and in which there do not seem to be precise rules of behavior to be saved. Although supernatural nature has a very important role in this story, it is always the human being who is central, the society we have created, and the bodies that we ourselves have put in place to maintain order.
The most reasonable character, and the one the viewer inevitably becomes most fond of, is xx, capable of guiding us through the chaos of the situation and the only one capable of acting not for the personal ending but to help others. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there is a character – whose name we won’t reveal to avoid spoilers – who lives in absolute selfishness and exploits those around him only to achieve his own goals. The only obvious flaw of the series, which was the same one we noticed for the previous season, is that six episodes seem really too few to tell such an articulated and complex story. Some passages end up seeming rushed and the pace is not always the right one. If there is a third season, and from the conclusion of this second one everything makes us think that yes, we hope that they will take the right time and space to best develop the narration.
The New Truth and the Arrowhead are joined by a secret organization led by Hye-jin, called Sodo. This organization operates in the shadows to oppose the two powers and the government, protecting those who wish to die in peace and keep their demonstrations private. However, just when it seems that the “new world” has reached a certain “balance”, the angel of death condemns a newborn baby girl to hell. This event triggers an even bigger war than the one caused by Jung-ja’s demonstration: while Sodo intends to make the newborn’s execution public to demonstrate that there is no divine intervention behind this cruel otherworldly phenomenon, the New Truth does everything to capture the innocent baby girl, in an attempt to safeguard their doctrine, which firmly holds that only sinners deserve to die by divine will. The first season thus ends with a thrilling finale: the parents of the newborn, protecting her in an eternal embrace, are executed by demons, but the child remains unharmed. The execution, which took place publicly and spread online, undermines the power of the New Truth, while Sodo returns to the shadows, taking the newborn with him, entrusted to the care of Hye-jin.
The first season of Hellbound left viewers with many unanswered questions regarding the mysterious apparitions of the sentences and the bloody executions, culminating in a surprising cliffhanger in which Jung-ja’s remains are shown resurrected. This twist has profoundly shaken the narrative, calling into question the true meaning of being condemned to hell in the series. Jung-ja’s resurrection, in fact, not only further undermines the doctrine of the New Truth, which justifies the sentences as divine will, but also raises broader questions about the nature of the phenomenon itself: who or what is really behind these executions, and what role does the concept of sin play? The plot of this new chapter therefore opens the way to a deeper reflection on the concept of justice, extreme religious fanaticism, and the control of the masses through fear and shame of divine judgment. Precisely for this reason, in the new episodes, particular attention is paid to the social and political consequences of the growing power of the three organizations: Sodo, the New Truth, and the Arrowhead return to clash again, following the shocking news of the resurrections of Park Jung-ja and President Jung Jin-su, now played by Kim Sung-cheol.
As stated by the director Yeon Sang-ho himself, this second chapter focuses on how individuals deal with the new phenomenon of resurrection, amidst doubts and questions. The audience is therefore forced to reflect on the different motivations for the power of the three organizations — Sodo, the New Truth, and the Arrowhead — which, amidst precarious alliances and uncompromising rivalry, each of them tries to establish a new order that can dominate the chaos generated by a real “hell on earth”. The resurrections of Jung-ja and Jin-su, in addition to denying once again the presence of God behind the executions, offer the audience the opportunity to explore Hell in the apocalyptic world of Hellbound. The Hell depicted here is different from what one might expect. Through the character of Jin-su, a dark place is outlined in which family traumas, suffering, betrayals, anger, and violence of existence come to life in the most painful and disturbing personal memories.
In his intimate Hell, Jin-su is perpetually dominated by a vortex of anguish that reveals his inner demons and the destruction that lies within him. This aspect of the narrative not only makes the experience of Hell more tangible and complex but also offers a mystical insight into the human condition, showing how emotional scars can influence not only the perception of reality and us but also our approach to death. The second season of Hellbound, which premiered at the 29th Busan International Film Festival, is an adrenaline-filled mix of tension, drama, and strong social commentary, in which the evil of humanity constantly prevails over good and compassion. The narrative follows a well-paced rhythm, which leaves no room for boredom. The dark and gloomy atmosphere dominates the entire series, while the CGI shows a clear improvement compared to the first season.
Among the new faces and the already-known ones, there was the introduction of Kim Sung-cheol (Arthdal Chronicles, Hospital Playlist, Vincenzo), who took on the difficult task of replacing Yoo Ah-in. The reason is known last year, following an investigation by the South Korean police, the popular star Yoo Ah-in was sentenced to one year in prison for illegal use of the anesthetic propofol. Excluded from the second season of Hellbound, the creators chose Kim Sung-cheol to play the role of Jung Jin-su. Despite the forced replacement, the choice proved to be effective. Kim Sung-cheol manages to fill the void left by the charismatic Yoo Ah-in, perfectly immersing himself in the evolution of Jin-su’s character, who goes from a powerful leader of a religious sect to a fragile and damned soul.
Although the second season keeps the audience’s attention high and shows the will to answer the many questions left unanswered, the final result struggles to meet the high expectations. Hellbound Season 2 fails to fully clarify the complex dynamics that govern the protagonists, and the answers provided appear insufficient to fully understand the profound message hidden behind this exciting, but at times confusing, apocalyptic horror. Ultimately, the series continues to intrigue but still leaves many unanswered questions about the true nature of humanity facing the end of the world. So the question arises: will we have to wait for a third season?
Hellbound Season 2 Review: The Last Words
Hellbound Season 2 takes us back to a complex world where opposing religious ideologies clash, threatening to bring the entire society into chaos. The series deals with extremely interesting themes and is well-developed, it’s a shame that it’s only six episodes long, and at times it seems too rushed in its development. Hellbound Season 2 mixes tension, drama, and social commentary, with a dark atmosphere and improved CGI. The introduction of Kim Sung-cheol, who replaced Yoo Ah-in after his drug conviction, also proved effective, giving a new value to the controversial Jin-su. However, despite the gripping pace, the season fails to fully clarify the complex dynamics of the plot, leaving many unanswered questions.
Hellbound Season 2 Review: Takes Us Into A World Shaken By Conflicting Religious Ideologies - Filmyhype
Director: Choi Kyu-seok
Date Created: 2024-10-25 19:02
4
Pros
- The story is interesting and well structured.
- The characters are well developed
- The themes covered capture the viewer
Cons
- Six episodes are too few for such a complex story.
