The main trailer starts off on an appalling note with Park Jungja (played by Kim Shin-rok) receiving a hellbound decree from an angel while celebrating her birthday with her beloved kids. The composed voice of Jung Jinsu (played by Yoo Ah-in) takes over, explaining that the supernatural phenomenon is God’s warning to sinners to be more righteous. Jinsu then utters the words, “I’d like to welcome you all to the new world” — introducing an apocalyptic world where unforeseen stories unfold in an anarchistic society.  

Having been invited to a series of renowned domestic and international film festivals even before its official release, including the Toronto International Film Festival, BFI London Festival, and Busan International Film Festival, the highly-anticipated Netflix series Hellbound is based on the webtoon titled The Hellbound, critically acclaimed as “the most shocking piece of work in the history of webtoon” and boasting a rating of 9.77 out of 10. “From the time when I was working on the webtoon, bringing the story onto the screen was always at the back of my mind,” says director Yeon Sang-ho, who created the original webtoon with Choi Gyu-seok, author and illustrator of Songgot, teamed up with Choi again to flesh out the world of Hellbound. 

Through the supernatural phenomenon where “executors” from Hell land in the middle of Seoul to demonstrate condemnation to Hell, the filmmaker reveals human weaknesses and fears and provides a sharp portrayal of a variety of people in the midst of the chaos. From Seoul Station to Train to Busan, Peninsula, and The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey, director Yeon Sang-ho has made social commentary through his portrayal of imperfections and diverse aspects of people who are faced with insurmountable disasters or supernatural phenomena, and with Hellbound, he once again poses the sharp question of “What kind of world do we live in? And how should we, as humanity, live?”