Korean drama Hellbound was released on 19 Nov 2021 and is available for streaming on Netflix. Photo Credit: Netflix

Hellbound makes history as the first Korean drama to make it to the top in just 24 hours of its debut on Netflix. 

Within a day of its initial release on 19 Nov this year, the show managed to clinch the top spot on the global streaming platform, while the sensational show Squid Game took eight days to reach the same position. 

As of 28 Nov 2021, Hellbound is ranked the top television show in Singapore according to FlixPatrol. It has also defended its ranking as the #1 television show on Netflix for nine consecutive days.

The six-episode Korean thriller drama was written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho, who created the original webtoon and also directed the internationally acclaimed Train to Busan. 

Rated M18 in Singapore, the dark and gory series is about supernatural beings who announce a death decree and appear at a fixed time in the middle of Seoul to kill sinners by brutally burning them. 

Jung Jin-su, played by Yoo Ah-in, is the leader of religious organisation ‘The New Truth’. He claims that sinners are condemned and such occurrences are part of a divine plan to separate good from evil. 

As The New Truth’s influence grows, some people, including lawyer Min Hye-jin, played by Kim Hyun-joo, and broadcasting station producer Bae Young-jae, played by Park Jeong-min, begin investigating them after suspecting that the organisation is involved in the series of unnatural deaths.

Despite the show’s early success, many people are still not impressed by the series and some have even compared it to Squid Game, which previously found global fame after it debuted on Netflix in September.  

One viewer expressed that the drama was a disappointment and its plot was a “mess”, calling it a waste of time.
Many Singaporean netizens seem to prefer Squid Game to Hellbound too, saying that the animation used isn’t nice and the drama was boring.

But there are also fans of Hellbound.

One Twitter user complimented the drama as an original and awesome show.
YouTube users share their positive sentiments on the series, saying that Hellbound portrayed a “different side of human nature” and that they “did not expect it to be this good”.

Spoiler alert! The first season of the drama ends with a cliffhanger and many are hoping that there will be a second season.

A Twitter user gives a short review on Hellbound while waiting for a second season.
Another user on Twitter hopes for a second season of Hellbound.

However, director Yeon Sang-ho said in an interview with OSEN that the second part will be released in the form of a webtoon first. There is no discussion for another season of the drama series yet. 

Catch the trailer for Hellbound here: 

Proofread By: Rytasha Passion Raj