The first season ofHellbound's was first premiered at the2021 Toronto International Film Festival 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 onNetflix on November 19, 2021, and became the world's most-watched Netflix series the next day,[4] surpassingSquid Game,[5] released two months prior in Singapore. Critics were positive of the show, but also cognizant that it followed in the footsteps ofSquid Game; nonetheless, they predicted it to be heavily discussed and to have a lasting impact.
The second season was invited as one of the six drama series in the On Screen section at the29th Busan International Film Festival. It was released on October 25, 2024.
Hellbound takes place in 2022–27 in South Korea. An otherworldly face called anangel suddenly starts to materialize to deliver prophecies calleddecrees that condemn certain individuals toHell at a specific future time, either seconds or years away. Three monstrous supernatural beings calleddemons appear at almost the exact time to maul and incinerate the person's body in a sort of spectacular show of force called ademonstration. 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.
The concept began with an 11-minute-long animated short titledHell (지옥) written and drawn byYeon Sang-ho in 2002[18] that was expanded (through the addition of a second part) into the 34-minute-long short titledHell: Two Lives (지옥: 두개의 삶) in 2003.[19][unreliable source?] This was followed by awebtoon version of the concept retitledHellbound published between 2009 and 2011. The series was released in two trade paperbacks in South Korea in 2021, with English releases throughDark Horse Comics following in 2022. A sequel series,Hellbound 2: The Resurrected (지옥2:부활자), was released in September 2023 and concluded in August 2024.
In April 2020, Netflix approved production of an original series based on thewebtoon. Yeon signed on to direct the series.[20]
The series was filmed at Cube Indoor Studio from August 2020 to January 2021. The old Chungnam Provincial Government Buildings inSunhwa-dong,Jung District and the Hannam University Missionary Village inDaedeok District were the outdoor locations for filming.[22] On February 25, 2021, the director and the cast ofHellbound introduced the TV series at a Netflix content roadshow.[23]
Promotional poster incorporating three notable characters from the second season.
On September 24, 2022, Netflix confirmed a second season.[24] On March 2, 2023, it was confirmed thatKim Sung-cheol would replaceYoo Ah-in following his drug use charges.[7] 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, Lim Seong-jae, Jo Dong-in andMoon Geun-young will also appear to enrich the narrative.[14] On June 12, 2023, it was confirmed thatYang Dong-geun dropped out of the series for personal reasons, being replaced by Hong Eui-joon.[25]
The series had its world premiere at the2021 Toronto International Film Festival, when the first three episodes of the first season were screened in 'Primetime' section on September 9, 2021, and became the first Korean drama to make it to the festival.[26][27] The first three episodes were also screened at the26th Busan International Film Festival in newly created 'On Screen' section on October 7, 2021,[28] and at the 65thBFI London Film Festival in the "Thrill" section on October 15, 2021.[29][30] All six episodes of the first season were released onNetflix on November 19, 2021.[31]
The second season of the series was invited as one of the six drama series in the On Screen section of the29th Busan International Film Festival on October 2–11, 2024, where three out of six episodes had its world premiere.[32] All six episodes of the second season were released on October 25, 2024.[33]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 97% of 33 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Summoned by the devilish imagination of writer-director Yeon Sang-ho,Hellbound leverages its terrifying concept to thoughtfully explore human fallibility."[34]Metacritic reported thatHellbound holds a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on five critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[35]
Nick Allen ofRogerEbert.com gave the series a positive review, praising how the show mixed grounded horror with thoughtful discussions aboutsin. He wrote: "Thewrath monster trio might be absurd, but the madness withinHellbound is extremely believable."[36] Kylie Northover writing forThe Age 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 toThe Leftovers, she felt thatHellbound 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.[37]
Ed Power ofThe Telegraph rated the series with 3 stars out of 5 and stated, "Hellbound unspools like a mix ofClive Barker,The Da Vinci Code and the iconic Japanese horror,Ring."[38] 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 thatHell will be the most talked about work this winter."[39] Abhishek Srivastava ofThe Times of India 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. [Rather] it combines elements from different genres to create a highly bingeable show where human behaviour comes under scrutiny."[40] Jeffrey Zhang ofStrange 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".[41]
Stuart Heritage ofThe Guardian commenting on the comparison of the series withSquid Game wrote, "Hellbound is a truly exceptional drama wrapped in only the lightest of genre thrills. It might currently find itself swept up inSquid Game's wake, but I guarantee that, of the two, it's the show that will still be talked about a decade from now."[42][43]
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).[44]
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.[45] This is the fastest rate for a Korean series on Netflix.[4]
It surpassed another Netflix-produced Korean drama,Squid Game, as the most popular show on Netflix on its initial release.[5]
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