''Hellbound'' () is a South Korean

dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series directed by

Yeon Sang-ho Yeon Sang-ho (born 25 December 1978) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He gained international popularity for working his Adult animation, adult animated films ''The King of Pigs'' (2011) and ''The Fake (2013 film), The Fake'' ( ...

, based on his own

webtoon Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...

of the same name. An original

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

release set in the then future year of 2022,

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

beings suddenly appear out of nowhere to condemn people to

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

. The series stars

Yoo Ah-in Yoo may refer to: * Yoo (Korean surname), also spelled Ryu or Yu, a Korean family name * YOO, the IATA code for Oshawa Airport See also *You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was histor ...

Kim Hyun-joo Kim Hyun-joo ( ko, 김현주; born 24 April 1977) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in television dramas ''Glass Slippers'' (2002), ''Toji, the Land'' (2004), '' Twinkle Twinkle'' (2011), ''What Happens to My Fa ...

, Park Jeong-min,

Won Jin-ah Won Jin-ah (born March 29, 1991) is a South Korean actress known for her roles in ''Rain or Shine (TV series), Rain or Shine'' (2017) and ''Life (2018 TV series), Life'' (2018). She earned a Baeksang Arts Awards, Baeksang Arts Award nomination f ...

and

Yang Ik-june Yang Ik-june (born October 19, 1975) is a South Korean actor and film director. He is best known for the 2009 film '' Breathless'', which he wrote, directed, edited, and starred in. Career Born in Seoul in 1975, Yang graduated from the Departme ...

. The pilot episode of ''Hellbound'' premiered at the

2021 Toronto International Film Festival The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 46th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 9 to 18, 2021.Barry Hertz"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’ ...

in the "Primetime program of TV series" on September 9, 2021, and became the first Korean drama to make it to the festival. It was released on Netflix on November 19, 2021, and became the world's most-watched Netflix series the next day, surpassing ''

Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean survival drama television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryou ...

,'' released two months prior in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Critics were positive of the show, but also cognizant that it followed in the footsteps of ''Squid Game''; nonetheless, they predicted it to be heavily discussed and to have a lasting impact.

Series overview

Premise

''Hellbound'' takes place in 2022–27 in South Korea. An otherworldly face called an ''angel'' suddenly starts to materialize to deliver prophecies called ''decrees'' that condemn certain individuals to

at a specific future time, either seconds or years away. Three hulking supernatural monsters appear at almost the exact time to maul and incinerate the person's body in a sort of spectacular show of force called a ''demonstration''. Two organizations in cahoots, the cult-like New Truth Society and the gang-like Arrowhead group, gain power by playing on people's fears. Of the six episodes of the series, episodes 1–3 focus on a detective investigating the supernatural phenomena, the chairman of the New Truth religious order, and a principled attorney. Except for the attorney, the core characters change in episodes 4–6, which take place 5 years later and focus on a television producer and his wife who have to struggle with the fact that their newborn baby is bound for Hell.

Cast

Main

(season 1) and

Kim Sung-cheol Kim Sung-cheol (; born December 31, 1991) is a South Korean actor. He achieved initial success in stage musicals before being cast in his debut television role as Kim Young-cheol (a.k.a. 'Jailbird') in ''Prison Playbook'' (2017). He is recognis ...

(season 2) as Jeong Jin-soo, a

cult leader In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This s ...

of the emerging New Truth Society **

Park Sang-hoon Park Sang-hoon ( ko, 박상훈, or ; born 13 March 1993) is a South Korean cyclist, who rides for UCI Continental team . Major results Road Source: ;2010 : 1st Time trial, Asian Junior Road Championships ;2011 : Asian Junior Road Champions ...

as young Jeong Jin-soo *

as Min Hye-jin, an attorney * Park Jeong-min as Bae Young-jae, a production director for a broadcasting station (Season 1) *

as Song So-hyun, the wife of Bae Young-jae (Season 1) *

as Jin Kyeong-hoon, a detective

Supporting

* Kim Do-yoon as Lee Dong-wook, a

live streamer An online streamer or live streamer is a person who broadcasts themselves online through a Livestreaming, live stream to an audience. History Streaming arose in the early 2010s, originating on sites like YouTube where users could upload videos ...

and member of Arrowhead, a gang of violent youths *

Kim Shin-rok Kim Shin-rok ( ko, 김신록; born 1981) is a South Korean actress. She gained recognition for her supporting roles in 2021 television series '' Beyond Evil'', '' Hellbound,'' and ''One Ordinary Day''. Education After graduating from the Depa ...

as Park Jeong-ja, a single mother subject to the first public demonstration *

Lee Re Lee Re (Korean: 이레, born March 12, 2006) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for playing the title character in ''Hope'' (2013). Early life Born in 2006, Lee is the youngest among a family of one son and two daughters. She attende ...

as Jin Hee-jeong, the daughter of Jin Kyeong-hoon *

Ryu Kyung-soo Ryu Kyung-soo (born 12 October 1992) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in the drama series ''Confession'' (2019) and ''Itaewon Class'' (2020). He also appeared in the films ''A Resistance'' (2019) and '' Hostage: Missing Celebr ...

as Yoo Ji, a priest of the New Truth cult *

Kim Mi-soo Kim Mi-soo (March 16, 1992 – January 5, 2022) was a South Korean actress and model. Career Kim began her debut in 2018 in ''Lipstick Revolution''. During the early stages of her career, Kim was known for her debut role from ''Lipstick Revolu ...

as Deacon Young-in of the New Truth * Lee Dong-hee as Chairman Kim Jeong-chil * Cha Si-won as Deacon Sacheong of the New Truth * Im Hyeong-guk as Gong Hyeong-joon, a sociology professor and leader in the Sodo counter-organization * Kim Hyun as Church member * Lim Seong-jae as a member of Sodo (Season 2) * Hong Eui-joon as a leader of Sodo (Season 2)

Special appearance

* Cho Dong-in (Season 2) *

Moon Geun-young Moon Geun-young (; born May 6, 1987) is a South Korean actress. Affectionately called the "Nation's Little Sister," Moon began modeling at the age of 10, then made her acting debut in 1999 as a child actress. She first rose to stardom through he ...

(Season 2)

Production

The concept began with an 11-minute-long animated short titled ''Hell'' (지옥) written and drawn by

in 2002 that was expanded (through the addition of a second part) into the 34-minute-long short titled ''Hell: Two Lives'' (지옥: 두개의 삶) in 2003. This was followed by a

version of the concept retitled ''Hellbound'' published between 2009 and 2011. In April 2020, Netflix approved production of an original series based on the

. Yeon signed on to direct the series.

Season 1

In late July,

, Park Jung-min,

and

were confirmed to play various roles in the series. The series was filmed at Cube Indoor Studio from August 2020 to January 2021. The old Chungnam Provincial Government Buildings in

Sunhwa-dong Sunhwa-dong is a legal '' dong'', or neighbourhood of the Jung-gu district in Seoul, South Korea and governed by its administrative dong, Sogong-dong and Hoehyeon-dong. MIAT Mongolian Airlines has its Seoul Branch Office in the Soonhwa Building. ...

, Jung-gu and the Hannam University Missionary Village in Daedeok-gu were outdoor locations for filming. On February 25, 2021, the director and the cast of the ''Hellbound'' introduced the TV series at a Netflix content roadshow.

Season 2

On September 24, 2022, Netflix confirmed a second season. On March 2, 2023, it was confirmed that

would replace

following his drug use charges. Kim Hyun-joo, Kim Shin-rok, Yang Ik-june, Lee Dong-hee and Lee Re will reprise their respective roles in Season 2.

Yang Dong-geun Yang Dong-geun (; born June 1, 1979) or YDG is a South Korean actor, rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and breakdancer. Yang majored in Theatrical Performance at Yong-In University. Biography Yang enlisted for mandatory military ser ...

, Lim Seong-jae, Jo Dong-in and

will also appear to enrich the narrative. On June 12, 2023, it was confirmed that

got off for personal reasons, being replaced by Hong Eui-joon.

Episodes

Release

The series had its world premiere at the

, when the first three episodes were screened in 'Primetime' section on September 9, 2021, and became the first Korean drama to make it to the festival. The first three episodes were also screened at the

26th Busan International Film Festival The 26th Busan International Film Festival opened on October 6 at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, South Korea with South Korean film '' Heaven: To the Land of Happiness'' by Im Sang-soo. Park So-dam and Song Joong-ki hosted the opening of the ...

in newly created 'On Screen' section on October 7, 2021 and at the 65th

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

in the "Thrill" section on October 15, 2021. It was released for streaming on Netflix on November 19, 2021.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 97% approval rating, based on 32 reviews with an average rating of 7.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Summoned by the devilish imagination of writer-director Yeon Sang-ho, ''Hellbound'' leverages its terrifying concept to thoughtfully explore human fallibility."

Audience response

With 67.52 million viewing hours in the week ending November 28, 2021, ''Hellbound'' was in 2nd place in the Global Top 10 weekly list of the most-watched TV shows (non-English). On release it recorded 43.48 million viewing hours in three days of release and rose to top spot in the "Netflix global TOP 10 TV (non-English) category" as per the Netflix TOP 10 website. It ranked first in the "TOP 10" in 12 countries, whereas it was listed in the "TOP 10" list in 59 countries worldwide. This is the fastest rate for a Korean series on Netflix. It surpassed another Netflix-produced Korean drama, ''

,'' as the most popular show on Netflix on its initial release.

Critical response

Nick Allen of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

'' gave the series a positive review, praising how the show mixed grounded horror with thoughtful discussions about

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

. He wrote: "The

wrath Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, su ...

monster trio might be absurd, but the madness within ''Hellbound'' is extremely believable." Kylie Northover writing for ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' gave 4 stars out of 5 and appreciating the narrative wrote, "...the narrative steadily evolves into a compelling mix of police procedural, violent horror and shrewd commentary around ideas of human flaws, mortality, sin, justice and the influence of media." Referring to '' The Leftovers'', she felt that ''Hellbound'' shows sensibilities as "humanity's search for purpose in the face of the divine, but its exploration of the conflicting ways in which humanity might react to such a mass event feels like something to which we can all, in a small way, relate post-pandemic. Ed Power of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' rated the series with 3 stars out of 5 and stated, "''Hellbound'' unspools like a mix of

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

, ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Langdon ...

'' and the iconic Japanese horror, ''

Ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

''." Kim Seong-hyeon reviewing for YTN wrote the "performances of the actors that make the hell of reality that the director solidly created in this way more smoothly". Concluding, Kim stated, "Although the somewhat insufficient CG leaves a little disappointment, ''Hell'' is a work that leaves a deep impression enough to offset that. There seems to be no doubt that ''Hell'' will be the most talked about work this winter." Abhishek Srivastava of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' graded the series with 4 stars out of 5 and appreciated the narrative and performance stating, "It works multiple surprises in its narratives and features excellent performances that accentuate the drama on contrasts amongst its characters". About plot, Srivastava said, "In a neat, riveting plot twist, the show jumps ahead a few years; bringing in a new layer of characters, scenarios and situations,... Concluding his review he said, "''Hellbound'' is not a horror thriller, or a crime drama. atherit combines elements from different genres to create a highly bingeable show where human behaviour comes under scrutiny." Jeffrey Zhang of ''Strange Harbors'' graded the series with B+ and stated, "''Hellbound'' finds a tricky moral tightrope underneath its phantasmagoria - a meticulously crafted and surprisingly introspective chiller even when it stumbles in its thematic juggling act".

''Squid Game'' comparison

Stuart Heritage of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' commenting on the comparison of the series with ''

'' wrote, "''Hellbound'' is a truly exceptional drama wrapped in only the lightest of genre thrills. It might currently find itself swept up in ''Squid Game'' wake, but I guarantee that, of the two, it's the show that will still be talked about a decade from now."

Accolades

References

External links

* * *
''Hellbound''
at Daum * *
Hellbound
' on

WEBTOON Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...

{{Webtoon (platform) 2021 South Korean television series debuts 2020s horror television series 2020s mystery television series 2020s supernatural television series South Korean fantasy television series South Korean horror fiction television series South Korean mystery television series South Korean thriller television series Dark fantasy television series Horror drama television series Religious drama television series Television series about cults Angels in television Demons in television Hell in popular culture Korean-language Netflix original programming Television shows based on South Korean webtoons