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#POPCORNX Review: Hellbound 지옥 on Netflix (Spoilers-ish)



By the time the credits rolled at the end of Episode 6 finale for HELLBOUND, I am grateful this season was 6 episodes long, because any longer, I might have been a tad miffed. Not as heavy as "pissed", but a smidgen beyond the blurry brink of "annoyed".



I'll cut to the chase: Is it worth the hype heaped upon the "Director of Train To Busan"?
I'll have to answer that if there'll ever be a "Season 2", which is an inevitability, because the finale sequence NEEDS to be answered, because no questions were answered at all, as the credits rolled.

Hellbound kdrama Season 1 on Netflix


WHAT IS HELLBOUND?

HELLBOUND is a 6-episoder streaming series launched on Netflix. The story is based on a webtoon "Jiok" written by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok, with this series directed by Yeon Sang-ho himself.

Each episode lasts between 42minutes to 60minutes each. Names attached to this rated "M18" series include Yoo Ah-in, Kim Hyun-joo, and Park Jeong-min. Not all of them last throughout the series.

The series synopsis reads: "Unearthly beings deliver bloody condemnations, sending individuals to hell and giving rise to a religious group founded on the idea of divine justice."

Reposted here are trailers and clips from my previous coverage on POPCORNX. The following review/commentary contains SPOILERS (not really but, just in case lah).



If you are looking for "mystery" and unsolved phenomenon, then "Hellbound" Season 1 is for you.

If you are looking or family fun entertainment, Hellbound is not for you.

If you are tickled by how social media and live streaming impact the world, Hellbound represents.



THE WORLD OF HELLBOUND

The intensity shimmers relentlessly in the shadows, where joy is hidden in between the lines of an unspoken truth. We are consistently faced with the "WHEN", but never the "WHY". The "WHO" is as random as the algorithm on social media as it is to the user.

In a alternate universe, seemingly random people are visited by a enlarged face of a dark smoky apparition with glowing eyes, telling said person she/he will be dragged to hell, on a specific day and a specific time.



GHOSTLY ANGELS & BLOSSOMING OF A NEW RELIGION

When the day+time comes, thunderous sounds are heard, and a trio of non-worldly brutes appear and will physically torment and bluntly and bloodily abuse said person, before the finally lay hands on said person, igniting a white flash of light, which essentially "burns" said person into a crisp, half -a-crisp, actually.

A religious cult forms around the phenomenon, named "The New Truth", with the leader named "Chairman Jung", who hides a truth himself, which we will witness being fulfilled early on in the series.

"Labels" are given to the happenings. Being visited by the apparition is deemed a visit by "an angel from God", while the announced date and time is referred to as "prophecy", with the act of being judged by the creature being a "demonstration". The person visted by the angel, is a "Sinner", as only sinners with face the wrath and be dragged into Hell.

Bare in mind this is based on English translated from South Korean language.



A lady agrees to a live-broadcast of her prophesized demonstration with The New Truth, who contractually pays the lady, observed by a Lawyer and law firm Sodo, and detectives.



Masked VIPs of The New Truth have front row seats, next to cameras which films everything. Proof is in the broadcast, and it heralds a new age of humanity.

The exact spot where this happen was turned into a museum of The New Truth, and burned body encased under a glass box, in full display. I am sure all of this is a metaphor for the world we live in but I am not smart enough to interpret this, cheers.



THE FUTURE IS NOW

We fast forward to a new age ("2027") where religious persecution is enacted by the lawless "Arrowhead" society, which covertly supports The New Truth, now a civiization guiding entity, with a new chairman top dog, whom we know from earlier episode, is a farce.

There is a non-believer detective and his daughter that ended up as a unresolved subplot. There is a survivor of a mob-assault, a crazed and crucial ex-live-streamer, a miracle baby, and a reconstituted/returned judged-n-crispied-sinner ... but no, there is no answer to be had, so don't expect any.

This season feels more like a "statement of fiction", than a "What If..."-question asked. Neither have I at any point asked myself "What would I have done?". I just uncomfortably absorb everything thrown at me in my screen and into my curious consciousness, and am left wanting.



I FEEL NO GUILT NOT LOVING 지옥

Is it worth the invest of time and effort to watch Hellbound? Not to me, except for this review content on POPCORNX. I would without question heading back to rewatch "Train To Busan" anytime, and not feel guilty about not supporting the director.

Thank the fk I have a new episode of HAPPINESS to watch this weekend.

Cheers,
Andy TOYSREVIL
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