With director and screenwriter Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) and co-writer Choi Kyu-Seok basing the series upon their own webcomic and original production, this does leave viewers with one ultimate question; “ is ‘ Hellbound’ actually worth watching ?”

For jaded and cynical detective Jin Kyeong-hoon (Yang Ik-june) humanity has offered him nothing but pain and sorrow. Still trying to come to grips with his wife’s brutal murder and having a fractious relationship with teenage daughter Hee-jeong (Lee Re), Jin’s research into the cases leads him face to face with leader of the mysterious cult ‘ New Truth’, Chairman Jeong Jin- Soo ( Yoo Ah-in). The cult has pledged salvation for “ sinners” by spreading gospels of the angels and encourage them to “ repent”. However as episodes progress it soon becomes slowly apparent towards Jin-Soo’s true nature and the brutal goals of the group, with attorney Min Hye-jin (Kim Hyun-joo) pledging representation for the alleged “ sinners”.

The biggest thing to address about ‘ Hellbound’ is that it isn’t a show for the lighthearted. Whilst devoted fans of the webcomic may notice some subtle storyline changes ,the show is violent and not afraid to present brutal murders alongside people being combusted like human torches throughout the series.

Intertwined amongst the shoddy CGI monsters of ‘ Hellbound’ as well as alongside the spine-tingling OST by Kim Dong-wook, ‘ Hellbound ‘ expertly paces its descent into chaos, knowing when to slow down on abominable killings and when to present its moral deadlocks . From the rising corruption of religion and the cultural phenomenon in South Korea of hysterical puritanism, hypocrisy as well as the rise of extreme conservative views paradoxical to the insatiable appetite of society for violence through popular culture, ‘ Hellbound’ addresses a lot of issues without shame or embarrassment and with the entire purpose to expose current issues and realities in South-Korean society. However this is also where the series began to hit a rut after the midway point; it never really carried through these messages with regards to the medium of the series . Whilst some characters are used with a purpose, some seemingly quintessential main characters have rushed arcs or suddenly disappear without rhyme or reason, whilst the climax and rising tension of the drama often went on a downwards slope after the halfway point.

The acting front is admittedly a mixed-bag ( especially with some line deliverances by the supporting characters.) Of course whilst the main cast shone throughout, one of the most dynamic performances throughout the show was surprisingly Yoo Ah-In’s performance as fanatic cult leader Chairman Jin Soo .

Whilst main lead Jin Kyeong-hoon is admittedly a complex character type as the “ cynical cop” and female lead Hye-Jin as the “ attorney”, they often felt tightly crammed into their roles as stock characters tropes . This isn’t necessarily a bad approach per say and did give director and screenwriter Sang-Ho opportunities to reimburse old character tropes for his own gain, but it did little to really diverge these main leads from their expected decisions and actions, often leading them to be shoehorned into the plot ( as well as lacking more profound depth) rather than allowing the characters to move coherently within the contents of the storyline. For example a major subplot surrounding the series for Kyeong-Hoon is the murder of his wife. Whilst later revelations play briefly upon this subplot, the profound details surrounding Hoon’s reactions as well as his relationship with daughter as a consequence were left underexposed, and therefore lacked more sound emotional-depth also.

Of course getting back to our mysterious chairman it isn’t necessarily the case that he was executed as an entirely “ original villain” as after all Sang-Ho does enjoy playing upon Jin Soo as the “ calm and quiet” archetype. However where Sang-Ho creates mystery surrounding Jin-Soo is that he isn’t a “ redeemable antagonist with a painful past” or “twirling his moustache planning world domination”, but just a regular person with a megalomaniacal desire to deliver his warped sense of “ justice”. However whilst Jin Soo helped us to bring together our main characters and kept the storyline moving, his anticlimactic character arc and exit from the series raided more questions than answers afterwards.

This was often a major problem with ‘ Hellbound’- plot points which could’ve been meticulously executed onscreen or poignant for audiences to reflect upon, felt missed out completely by Sang-Ho’s imbalance of subtext against plot. For example even through the cinematography and as the director Sang-Ho never seemed entirely sure how he wanted to capture the world of the characters. Seemingly ordinary or gritty early episode scenes hinting at the unexpected, turned into moody and drab aesthetic shots of Seoul straight out of a noir crime series. This isn’t necessarily unheard of a director playing with mood or lighting to convey messages or by transcending genres. However , directors or cinematographers usually have a vision in mind when invoking these scenes for viewers. Sang-Ho seemed often uncertain even through the objective lens of the director with how this truly captured or presented the emotional mind-frame of his characters . . Adding to this Yeon and Choi weigh down each dramatic scene straight out of a jump-scare movie; the monsters’ attacks feel animalistic and playfully sadistic, but never truly added a more profound and impactful tone for audiences.

The ending of the series attempt to crank up the shock value to the maximum with the delivered revelations of the finale. However whilst the series does leave a more open ending through a cliffhanger major characters arcs, subplots and storyline moments were rarely tied together or felt more complete as a consequence.

So what is left to take from ‘ Hellbound’? ‘ Hellbound’ is a pacy supernatural thriller with an intriguing plot wrapped into six episodes. Aside from some dodgy acting by our side characters, the main cast were decent enough and the standalone performance by Yoo Ah-In did give the drama some undeniably charisma. However one of the major problems with the Netflix series is that it becomes lost in a maze of its own doing; subtext themes and plot were often lacking in depth and more profound deliverance, whilst even some of our main characters lost their gravitation to audiences by abrupt exploration and coverage alongside an incomplete ending. The series attempts to deliver a “ terrifying” experience through the CGI “ monsters” of the series whose design and presence onscreen felt insipid. Overall ‘ Hellbound’ is not a bad per say during a binge-watch session with an intriguing enough plot to keep you engaged, but certainly lacking within delivering a more sound impact for viewers also.