User reviews

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.

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 .

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.

Something bad is happening with Korean series, it happened to "Sweet Home" and it will surely happen to "Squid Game"...many years pass between seasons. The same thing happens to "Hellbound" which has an incredible, compelling, striking and dark first season and a second one, which although it is in that line, changes the focus quite a bit and we go from the mystery of the monsters and why they send people to hell to a more apocalyptic plot focused on humans. But all this, 3 years later, makes it lose interest and surely numbers.

I think that the series is correct, the script seems consistent to me and the performances as well. I especially highlight Min and the detective from the first season in the moments that he appears.

In season 2 the mystery is less than in the previous one but it takes it to a more political side. We are shown how the government intercedes between a religious organization and a group of religious fanatics in order to benefit and generate an order that no longer exists. On the other hand, we are shown the appearance of the "resurrected" but in two different ways: Park Jung-ja, who learned from her stay in hell and has a happy ending, unlike Jung Jin-su who did not and his actions lead to becoming another envoy.

The effects are better than in the first season, but as I say, it lacks the mystery that characterized the previous one.

Perhaps its biggest problem is the pace, at times slow, but not boring.

We will see if there is or not a third season, it would seem the most correct, but that does not mean that so much time passes...

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 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.

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.

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.

Season 1 Excellent, Season 2 Trash compared to Season 1.

The whole theme of the show changed and it looked like the wow factor from Season 1 got stuck there.

The characters had no bond created with the audience and it came across like a thrown together script. I'm so disappointed as I waited for Season 2 to complete the questions of Season 1 yet it was so mismatched it looked like a completely different show.

I don't understand the point/direction this show took. Neither do I understand what message the show was trying to convey! I kept watching hoping for it to get better and I could only manage to get up-to episode 3 then I was done as I couldn't watch anymore as it was obvious the script was not upto pare.

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.

The first season was really enjoyable-maybe nothing groundbreaking, but still very intriguing. I was eagerly awaiting the second season.

Unfortunately, it fell short of every possible expectation. I haven't watched a show this dull in a long time. Endless, meaningless dialogues drag on, feeling clichéd and predictable in every episode. The characters act irrationally, without logic, and their actions often seem forced. The storyline that once held so much potential now feels scattered and repetitive, and any suspense or tension from the first season is completely lost. I'm not very familiar with Korean TV tropes, so I'm unsure if these are common; either way, it's hard to find redeeming qualities here.

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.

I personally watched the English dub version .

Dub quality is decent Acting is good The main thing about this series which makes it likable is its open to INTERPRETATIONS .

It has many major plot holes which feel kind of irritating while watching .

People interested around the RELIGION / atheism will enjoy it .

Series leaves us on a cliffhanger .

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.

I watched this over a few weekends. I was lost as to what was going on until the final 2 episodes. If you stopped after a couple of episode you will not the final understanding of what is really happing to these people being "demonstrated". Even at the end of the series you still wonder what's really happening. I like the series because it is really making me think about religion, doctrine and how it is used and how it can be used to control people.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.