Hellbound (2021– ) User Reviews

Did I watch the same show?

[mstrils · 8/10 · 24 November 2021]

I felt compelled to write a review based on the negative comments. I watched this over the course of a day and a half and thought it was very good. Now I understand that not everyone will enjoy the same types of shows but in no sane world is this show a 1-4.

For the reviewers that only made it through 2-3 episodes you missed the jump in the timeline. For the reviewers complaining about a lack of closure after six episodes, well thats because there will be a second season. It's a cliffhanger pretty standard.

I would recommend giving it a go. In my opinion it is better than most of what Hollywood has been putting out for years.

Wait until you watched all of the 6 eps

[siro-604-947919 · 8/10 · 22 November 2021]

Not sure why with the bad reviews here but it seems mostly on watched the first 2 eps. The story picked up starting from the 3rd eps. To me it is worth watching.

Slow start but oh my god!

[dhruvvarma · 8/10 · 21 November 2021]

Firstly, people who have posted there reviews without watching the whole of first season please...just...

Sit through the first episode and you will end up binge watching till the end. The first two episodes had there moments but they were necessary to set the universe and timeline in order for the people to understand whats about to happen.

Overall the acting of all of the people was great and so many questions were left unanswered (in a good way) that i can't actually wait for the next season.

Korean is full of surprises

[shivkantsg · 7/10 · 20 November 2021]

There is speciality in K-drama is its always have something that suprised and kind of new .the supernatural part in story is small but reaction of humans in it is amazing , its a must watch series,action scenes are missing otherwise its must watch series.

This is too slow but make it to the end, waiting for season 2 now

[hanalisss · 7/10 · 19 November 2021]

I was mostly cold watching it and waiting for it to pick up . I managed to get to the end and i am now very curious to see what happens next. Korean dramas usually have 16 to 20 episodes so I am guessing they did with this one like they did with Kingdom and divide it in two parts. I was expecting more for the first part but I am hoping it will compensate in the second .

For the rest, the show is well made, great acting ( Yoo Ah-in is just chameleonic in everything he does) . The effects are outstanding, the quality of the series is evident and the concept is very original. It just lacks pace and thrill, most of the time but we will see what happens next.

Great concept with too much drama.

[parkmanjohn · 7/10 · 19 November 2021]

I like slow burners for psycological thrillers, but a sci-fi fantasy like this needs better pace. It is still worth the watch though. The acting was good, and Korean films and shows in gemeral have really been picking up the last couple of years.

what i think...

[aweniadesanya · 8/10 · 23 November 2021]

This show is amazing, I think people are hell-bound on the religious aspect of it. This show portrays the morality and philosphical ways of man explored in the concept of fear. I personally enjoyed it, to the extent it got me questioning life. The show uses religion as a factor which could be subtitiuted with anything else, but because there are people out there who still have faith of high begin it has a impact on them. The show develops quite late but express a need of change within society.

Interesting Concept, Terrible Execution

[akhtarneruda · 2/10 · 10 December 2021]

True, it has some interesting themes and concepts, but there's one downside to this that makes its themes pointless. It's boring, poorly written, and has zero interesting characters.

Now, I firmly believe a show can succeed if it is fun and either well-written or contains interesting characters. "Hellbound" has none of those. It's so painfully boring, that I only managed to make it halfway through episode two. It is poorly written, nothing that the people do in this series makes sense and are unrealistic. All of the characters are bland, with no defining trait or interesting characteristic; something that honestly shocks me, considering that the man who made this is the same man who made "Train to Busan".

Honestly, the only reason I rated this 2/10 is that it has an interesting concept that not many shows or movies delve into. Unfortunately, that doesn't matter if you can't pay attention nor care for anything that happens in "Hellbound".

A gripping series

[tezzjoseph · 9/10 · 19 November 2021]

I started just thinking of watching one episode and perhaps leave the rest for a later time. Instead, I ended up binge watching the whole series. The story line, suspenses and gore are gripping and will leave you numb at times. Nevertheless, it's a brilliant series and can't wait for S2.

Slow at times but certainly interesting. I was gripped after a fairly slow couple of episodes

[James_Denton · 7/10 · 25 November 2021]

After a fairly slow start I started to really enjoy it and as TV series go it's one of the better ones.

It's a very interesting series and had they pitched the idea of the series to me I couldn't have seen how it would work... and yet work it does!

The only troubling part for me was the end of the series... as these South Korean films/series do... they tend to cross the line for me and in this instance it was with the baby.

7 out of 10. Recommended.

actually turned out different than I thought, which was a good thing..

[mrvino15 · 7/10 · 27 November 2021]

It's a decent show, I liked it. It was pretty darn brutal though, which got tiring (for me) at times, never boring though. Then, by the end, what I thought would, or might, happen, didn't, and I'm really looking forward to season 2 now. It's a bit cheesy in the very beginning but that passes, and you can really tell that they put a lot of money into the effects.

It's definitely not for everyone but it does have a good payoff for those that stick with the 6 episodes.

Worth a watch

[silascriss · 7/10 · 23 November 2021]

The 1st 3min of episode 1 had me sold on the show. I was like DAMN the show looks crazy! I tried to get my gf to watch the show but she couldn't because it was too bloody. Every time the demons showed up you knew things were about to get ugly.

The actors did a good job. The story was okay. The slow parts are expected to build up characters, I can't expect the whole show to be a rollercoaster and have good characters.

The ONLY part I didn't like... This is just a PERSONAL thing that gets my eyes rolling. The strong woman trope. This woman up to this point in the show as cool normal chick, but all of a sudden she turns into RAMBO. She beats up 20+ dudes with weapons at the same time with her bare hands, kneeing dudes in the head, 1 punching knocking dudes outs, flipping 200 pound dudes over her head. She falls off the 4th floor onto the ground below and gets up and just runs off like its nothing. She will have to walk down a hallway and 6 guys are in her way... no problem. She beats them all up and continues on her way to beat up more people and escape with dozens of more dudes behind her. This woman went from at the start of the show getting beat half to death by 5 guys while begging for her life on her knees, to RAMBO and James Bond put together. I'm cool with women kicking butt, but damn.

Overwhelming technical shortcomings with ingenuity and insight

[jaeyeon_jung · 9/10 · 21 November 2021]

When I saw the CG monsters in the trailer, I thought, "Director Yeon has come up with something strange again" and I didn't have much expectations for this show. Fortunately, the focus of this show was not on the supernatural phenomenon itself, but on the human reaction to it, and the overwhelming insight and originality of the work offsets other technical shortcomings.

While "Squid Game" by Hwang Dong-hyuk or "Train to Busan"(2016) by Yeon himself were entertainers for many people, this show seems to be a work for the audience who put more weight on the subject matter of the work. In terms of originality, it can be compared to "The Wailing"(2016) by Na Hong-jin, and the ending of the last eposode is reminiscent of "Children of Men"(2006) by Alfonso Cuarón.

As a Korean director, Yeon Sang-ho is not yet at the level of masters like Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho. But he has proven within the mainstream that he is an original storyteller that will continue to be noticed.

Something different

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 16 December 2021]

A Korean miniseries that offers a bit of everything for the viewer. It's a little choppy at times and essentially feels like two three-episode series stitched together, and at times it's rushed or too slow. But I enjoyed the religious-themed plotting and the way it's used to shine a light on various aspects of human behaviour. The CGI isn't great but the show is high on drama and I can forgive the occasional misstep for the exciting set-pieces it has to offer. It's not SWEET HOME, but it's better than average.

It Is More Philosophic Than You Guys Might Have Ever Imagined!

[SoumikBanerjee1996 · 8/10 · 27 November 2021]

"Upholding righteousness and justice in fear of damnation. Is that truly righteous and just?"

Right off the bat, I must clear up some obvious misunderstandings! This isn't one of those typical Fantasy/Sci-fi/Supernatural shows that deal with Monsters or otherworldly creatures; as opposed to what Netflix might have suggested through their various promotional content on numerous social media platforms lately.

This show goes way deeper in scrutinizing not one but many societal demeanours and it is indeed way more philosophic than you guys might have ever imagined!

On top of having a powerful statement heeding Religious beliefs, faith, cults etc; Hellbound seemingly speaks against the core idea of Extremism, Radicalism too. The show with much profundity contemplates and argues the very foundation of this dangerous, self-destructive stuff, that can only give rise to chaos and social unrest in society.

However, the exact representation here isn't as simple as it may sound. Believe it or not, It has got multifaceted layers of complicated matters and countless subtexts which can only be found out only if you pay good enough attention.

Speaking of attention, the terrific writing willingly takes on the mantle and manages to withhold the all-important momentum and that too in a quite sophisticated manner! On the other side, you will get to know an array of versatile characters and each one of them's individualistic narratives that feel so relatable on so many levels!

Let us all just appreciate the whole ensemble, the entire cast; who had shown tremendous commitment and sincerity to each of their respective roles! And kudos to the technical team (Especially, the guys who were in charge of the Background Score); for giving it justice from a technological stance as well.

My main criticisms lie in its core storyline, which at times, reveals glaring loopholes and is yet to provide transparency in regards to a few of the questions that sprung to my mind. Even though, it was expected that the story would take more than one season to come to a feasible conclusion; got to admit, I was expecting to get at least some kind of closure.

Entertaining. A little too much filler.

[CJWar · 7/10 · 11 December 2021]

The CGI is decent, the soundtrack works and the acting is good. It suffers from something I'm beginning to think is very common in Asian or Asian-inspired TV shows - filler. There's a lot of it. Hellbound is an above average TV show that could've been a great 2.5 hour film. The fact it's only 6 episodes rather than the more common 8 or 10 saves it somewhat.

Very Bleak & Depressing Series

[mochteam · 5/10 · 21 November 2021]

Finished watching all 6 episodes in one night. It reminds me a lot of "Death Note" if you've ever watched that series but the idea of divine punishment for sinners and how it's received by the world is a lot different in this series or course. There isn't any explanation for the phenomena the people are experiencing...only that they must have done something to deserve their fates. The series drags you through 6 episodes (so far) that get more bleak and depressing as they carry on and then the series ends on a wtf moment. Hellbound is just not a satisfying experience to watch. There really are no redeeming characters and everyone seems to make deliberate bad decisions for the sake of plot progression.

On a side note... Korean movies are also funny sometimes because only the police have guns so a majority of the "violence" involves groups of people or a person hitting someone with a bat or club. There is a lot of that in this movie and after a while those scenes get tiring to watch because it's almost like the people they're beating are made of rubber or something. After getting beaten nearly fatally by pipes and bats they just get up and start running like nothing happened. Not just in this series but in just about every Korean movie or series. It's kind of comedic after a while.

Wow

[PedroPires90 · 9/10 · 24 November 2021]

If South Korea had half the population and money of the US, nobody would care about Hollywood again.

So far, so VERY good!

What a year for South Korean shows!

Food for thought

[shashank-178-165666 · 7/10 · 4 December 2021]

The story is about broadening your outlook about things that can't be explained scientifically and considered supernatural. Instead of labelling every supernatural event as an act of God or an act of cleansing the sins of humans ,we should consider alternate versions as well , instead of suppressing the voice of people who try to decipher it. Asking questions doesn't make anyone against any religion . The story is about not having blind faith in the name of God .

Somewhat Interesting Premise Devolves Into A Chaotic Mess

[fake_moviestar · 3/10 · 21 November 2021]

This was a major disappointment for me, as the premise and promise of Yoo Ah In was very exciting and enticing. The story ended up being just okay, it was certainly interesting to see how humans strive to put meaning to unfathomable occurrences, and we see this reflected in real life too. Unfortunately after episode 3 the show grew boring, and it was just the same thing over and over again. The show ended with an interesting twist, I wish they had put that twist in episode 4 and used it to flesh out the rest of the show. Unfortunately this show turned out to be a violent, chaotic mess with no real reasoning or answers provided. I think a season 2 is highly unlikely, so as an audience we will probably never receive answers, which is annoying and disappointing. I would definitely pass on this one.

The Squid Game Effect

[wookiemaster3000 · 23 November 2021]

Here we go....with the popularity of Squid Game we now have many new trendy viewers watching Korean media. These low reviews saying it's "boring" after only watching 2 episodes is typical of the average viewer in 2021. If it doesn't have grown men flying around in spandex, or some controversial woke topic at it's heart people simply are not interested.

Brilliant premise dragged down by dumb characters

[Jack_C_ · 6/10 · 1 December 2021]

The premise is brilliant but the story was dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. It is hard to believe no police force or political leader dared to challenge Fascist gangs led by a Youtube personality in blacklight makeup. Koreans are apparently made of stone and are immune to massive head trauma.

I wish it better explored backstories of people burned alive by interdimensional beings. Also, does no other country in the world exist to react to these happenings?

Entertaining, but not as nuanced as Snowpiercer or Squid Game for social commentary.

Not bad

[keenefongkaiwen · 7/10 · 21 November 2021]

Interesting concepts explored in this series, but scenes were quite repetitive. Plot is interesting, but not fully developed. Same for the characters -- they do not seem well developed. This series has the potential to be much better. Hopefully, the cliffhanger at the end signals that there will be a second season. To be honest, the cliffhanger was probably the most exciting/climactic/interesting segment of the show, so I would rather the producers use this as the climax for the series.

A few issues but amazing show

[Movi3DO · 9/10 · 22 November 2021]

Death Note but Light Yagami is actually Kami and he sends Shinigami to execute the victims.

A new Korean horror added to Netflix. I came in knowing minimal about the premise and didn't watch any trailer videos. You should too, because the first 6 minutes of the series gave you an exact taste of what the show is about. Only 6 minutes and it would definitely hook you in, especially if you like horror.

The first three episodes was what I call perfection. Since the show has only 6 episodes, it did not waste any time. Even though there's not a whole lot of time for character development, the pacing was incredible. The intensity was through the roof, and I was transfixed to the screen in terror of the inevitability that some characters would face.

The last three episodes was where the problem with the show arose. The transition from episode 3 to 4 wasn't smooth because the pacing took a pretty big deceleration. It took some buildup and then the last episode became amazing and rewarding, similar to the first three episodes.

Also, this show almost had no chill. It was very violent almost to the point of violence for shock value. Unfortunately there were scenes where people getting beat up that would be very uncomfortable for viewers. However, the portrayal of how cult or religious leaders could bend the meaning of an event or text and manipulate the mind of a large group of people justified the shocking violence of the series. The story worked this theme very well and hooked me in even more.

Overall, an incredible and intense horror series that does not pull any punches. For sure for sure check it out. 9.5/10.

Takes a while to get get going

[manga_fantasy33 · 7/10 · 23 November 2021]

I must admit the first few episodes did put me off but I went in a little deeper and I was quite happy what I came out with. I'd say from the 4th episode it gets a lot better. Unfortunately ends on the 6th. The first three episodes will pull out of people off with it's poor acting chops and really shoddy CG. But if you like fantastical stories like youd find in animes or comics, you'll feel right at home with this.