Squid Game is a dark violent Korean show that proved to be a major hit. Whereas there is another Korean series which delves into darkness, bloodshed and graphic content. Yeon Sang-ho, who directed Train To Busan (2016), created the six-episodes intriguing show “Hellbound” which depicts people getting prophecies from mysterious figures, that they will be sent to hell for their sins. Hellbound contains all the ingredients of a horror, dark and fantasy-driven bingeable story as it portrays the human society being held accountable for their past actions. The creators showed how a society, which is ignorant of its dark truths, is sent into chaos when people wake up to the line of fire originating from figures representing God. One of the most harrowing elements of Hellbound is how deadly humanity and misguided faith can be.
A group of youngsters watch a Youtube video narrated by Jeong Jin-soo, who happens to be the leader of New Truth Society and a video of a man sitting at a table looking at the clock and as the clock hits 1:20 pm on November 10th, a heavy sound goes across the city. Tremendously large dark creatures emerge abruptly in the video and approach the man. As he is fleeing them, they are running after him and when they finally get hold of him, he is lynched to death before his body is set ablaze and turned into ashes. Now, a police detective named Jin Kyeong-hoon, whose wife was murdered recently, is late to work. His boss assigns him and his colleague Hong pyo to probe the New Truth Society, a cult propagating the news of such tragic incidents.
When they go to the crime scene, Kyeong-hoon and Hong pyo stumble upon a meeting of New Truth Society. In the gathering, the cult’s chairman Jeong explains that indivduals who are convicted offenders see a ghost that tells them the day and time when they will be sent to hell and later the dark massive creatures appear at the specified time. The detectives ask Jeong how he reached this prediction and Jeong narrates them that he first came across these creatures when he visited Tibet on a pilgrimage. Meanwhile, Kyeong-hoon gets upset seeing that his daughter Hee-jeong is also part of the cult.
Kyeong-hoon investigates the case and finds out that a lawyer named Min Hye-jin has inquired about the victims of New Truth Society and also uncovers that there is a connection between New Truth Society and a more radical cult known as The Arrowhead. In a scene, a woman named Park Jeong-ja is celebrating her birthday with her children when out of nowhere a golden 3D mask appears and tells her that she is going to die after five days at 3pm. In the meantime, a man in goat skull mask, calling himself a representative of The Arrowhead goes on the internet, talking about divine’s judgement. He shows a video of teenagers thrashing a professor of sociology named Gong Hyeong-joon for giving an interview in which he doubted that all this is being done due to divine intervention.Then, Kyeong-hoon speaks to the professor and his partner with the teens who are firm that the world is going to change. Later, Park Jeong-ja goes to Hye-jin’s office after meeting the cult’s leader Jeong and tells her his demand for the day she dies.
Hellbound, based on a webtoon, is piecing together the multiple supernatural salyings with Jeong and New Truth Society as well as Arrowhead. It may seem confusing considering so many characters and not explaining the identity of the Arrowhead character and why he is wearing a goat mask. But the murders and Kyeong’s desperate attempts to connect the dots are what going to keep the audience engaged. Viewers will be curious to ascertain whether New Truth Society’s leader is right about his prophecies or not.
