Hellbound Review: The New Korean Netflix Series, Which Will Put You Face To Face With Your Sins

Starring: Yoo Ah-in, Kim Hyun-joo, Park Jeong-Min

Creators: Yeon Sang-ho, Choi Gyu-seok

Streaming Platform: Netflix (watch from here)

Ratings: 4/5 (four star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

The “South Korean fever” seems not to be ready to run out on Netflix yet and, given the global success of Squid Game recently, it is very likely that any serial product made in that country will at least attract the attention of a good chunk. of public. As we will see in this Hellbound review, the series directed by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan, Peninsula) and co-created by Choi Kyu-seok (who is also the author of the webtoon it is based on) belongs to a different genre than Squid Game: blood and violence there is no shortage, but we are moving more into horror / surreal territory. The premise of this story is particularly intriguing and we are sure that, net of some defects in the narrative development that we will deepen and a not exactly excellent CGI, it will be able to capture many spectators, even those who usually disdain this kind of series.

Hellbound Review: The Story

The story then begins to revolve around the investigations that the police carry out against a religious group, called ” New Truth ” and led by a young man named Jeong Jin-soo (Yoo Ah-in), who the community he calls President and who, however, hides a worrying secret. Leading the police investigation is Jin Kyeong-hoon (Yang Ik-june) still emotionally distraught by the brutal murder of his wife many years earlier and with a difficult relationship with his teenage daughter, Hee-jeong (Lee Re). who has secretly joined the New Truth.

When Detective Jin begins digging into the case, he meets the President, who is dedicated to spreading the gospel of angels and encouraging citizens to repent of their sins. Then there is Min Hye-jin ( Kim Hyun-joo ), a lawyer who is hired to represent the so-called sinners targeted by the avenging angels, on which the wrath of another organization is unleashed, the “Arrowhead ”, A sect that in the name of God carries out a real persecution and acts of brutal violence against anyone who tries to stop the angels or question their origins.

This sect is in fact fomented by an excited and insane individual disguised through live online, in which the attempt to stop divine punishments is condemned, considered the natural consequence of sins committed in earthly life and a one-way ticket to hell, thus spreading more and more the belief that all this is God’s will.

The Review and Analysis

Hellbound already from the first episode looks like a series that fills the viewer with expectations, consisting of only 6 episodes the series revolves around mysterious supernatural entities, considered angels, who arrive on earth to drag some predestined humans to hell … or at least so is what many believe. In fact, it happens that many people in different parts of the world, including Seoul, where our story is set, begin to receive a disturbing prophecy coming from an unknown entity, which announces in how many days their death will take place.

Once the fateful day has arrived, the earth begins to shake and these strange smoking monsters appear out of nowhere that with violence and terrible imperturbability beat to death and then pulverize the poor unfortunate on duty, then vanish again into thin air. A disconcerting, electrifying and bloody series opening for Hellbound, which over the course of the episodes tends to become almost a more traditional criminal drama but without particular implications.

As history progresses, there seems to be more and more interest in solving the problems arising from the situation rather than investigating mysterious beings and helping the people who are brutally killed by them. In Hellbound no shortage definitely the hottest political topics that are explored, including religion for profit, the public’s appetite for violence and the rise of Puritanism hysterical. Unfortunately, during the episodes everything becomes very confused and redundant, leaving no room for concrete and unsettling turning points in history, except in the finale of this first season which clearly suggests a second one.

All in all, Hellbound is an intriguing, if somewhat off-center series. Fans of procedural detective stories with a touch of the supernatural are sure to particularly appreciate it, while those who were expecting a more horror and profound series may be disappointed. On the other hand, k-drama fans will undoubtedly have another title to add to the list of products to be recovered, while new fans following the great resonance given by Squid Game will look out here to another type of narration.

And from these questions many others come to life, through which Hellbound explores different themes: what would happen if the “divine” suddenly became part of our lives and how we would behave as human beings knowing that there really is someone who examines our actions and is he ready to punish us in the most terrible way? At this point, what is the value of free will, which should be what characterizes us as human beings? During the series we talk about sects and extremisms (and how certain religions are completely oriented towards profit and the exploitation of their followers), a sense of morality and the commodification of pain, and the sequence of the live video organized as punishment of the in fact, Mrs. Park can only deeply affect the viewer.

A large number of issues, which are undoubtedly explored in an interesting and original way, however, correspond to a limited time to do so. The only six episodes of Hellbound – series which is also divided into two parts, set at a distance of time from each other – do not seem sufficient to face in the best way many of the speeches that are opened gradually. Even the characterization of the characters – some of whom appear only in the first part of the series – would have deserved a different space, although we must admit that some of the protagonists – in particular Yoo Ah-in, Kim Hyun-joo and the intense Kim Hyun- joo – striking for the intensity of the interpretations and skill. Furthermore, as we anticipated at the beginning, the CGI that gives life to both creatures and the so-called “angels” is not flawless, and from a series with a substantial budget – as is evident from the rest of the staging – we would have expected something more.

The Last Words

Despite only 6 episodes, Hellbound manages to tell more stories and more points of view by involving the viewer from start to finish. Hellbound immediately presents itself as a raw, engaging and profound series, a mysterious story that then flows into something very confusing and redundant for the viewer who expected something else. All in all, Hellbound is an intriguing series that fans of detective procedural with a touch of the supernatural are sure to appreciate.