Over the course of its 25-year timeline, Hellbound uses flashbacks and a time jump to fully flesh out its nightmare world of demons and fanatics.
The story of Hellbound is divided into six episodes by a time jump, and certain key events take place in the distant past. Hellbound examines how a modern society’s reactions to horrific and unexplained supernatural events can be even more terrifying than the events themselves, based on Peninsula and Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-nightmare ho’s imagination. Yeon Sang-ho uses flashbacks and a time jump to fully address Hellbound’s complex socio-political themes.
The premise for Hellbound was first explored in 2006, in director Yeon Sang-11-minute ho’s rotoscope animated short titled: or The Hell (Two Kinds of Life). Sang-ho collaborated with an artist in 2019 to develop Hellbound as a webtoon, a type of Korean webcomic designed for mobile devices. A year later, Netflix decided to make Hellbound into a series.
At international film festivals in Toronto, Busan, and London, critics praised the first three episodes of Hellbound. Hellbound, which premiered on Netflix in November 2021, was a huge hit, even surpassing the success of Squid Game. While the first three episodes of Hellbound are set in 2022, the story actually begins 20 years earlier. Here’s a rundown of Hellbound’s entire timeline.
New Truth Society Chairman Jung Jin-soo (Yoo Ah-In) received a death decree from the supernatural beings himself 20 years ago, when he was just a teenager, according to Hellbound season 1 episode 3. Unlike the majority of the Hellbound, Jin-decrees soo’s were not carried out immediately after they were issued. He had to wait two decades before he died. Jin-soo explains that he’s lived his entire life in terror, tortured by the knowledge that he’ll die in a brutal, demonic manner. Hellbound examines the long-term effects of torture on an individual by fleshing out Chairman Jung Jin-past. soo’s In fact, it’s made clear that Jung Jin-ordeal soo’s is what drives him to found The New Truth Society. This is why, in Netflix’s Hellbound, Jin-soo is the most important of the main characters.
While Jin-soo can’t understand why he was sentenced to death and dragged to Hell, he finds meaning in fabricating elaborate lies so that others in his situation don’t have to go through the same long-term mental torment he did. Despite the fact that The New Truth Society’s authority is founded on lies, it successfully provides this service to its Hellbound followers, those whose loved ones have received decrees, and ordinary people who are simply trying to make sense of supernatural occurrences. At the same time, as the final episodes of Hellbound demonstrate, exploiting fanaticism, even if it is well-intentioned, can have disastrous and sinister consequences.
This is Hellbound’s central message, and the series’ flashbacks to Chairman Jin-early soo’s years in 2002 help to establish these key points. This is similar in some ways to Frank Herbert’s Dune, the basis for Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 sci-fi film reboot of the same name, which also warns against the dangers of following even the most well-intentioned messiah. Dune and Hellbound’s examinations of fanaticism and belief are even more important in an age of charismatic influencers, preachers, and politicians.
The first episode of Hellbound premieres on November 10, 2022. This is the day that a well-documented execution by Hellbound’s demonic hulking creatures prompts South Korean authorities to look into the supernatural events. As a result, police detective Jin Kyung-Hun (Yang Ik-Joon) contacts The New Truth Society’s Chairman Jung Jin-Soo, setting in motion the events of the series. Hellbound establishes a viewpoint that is relatable to all audiences by setting the story’s opening near the present time. The internet continues to spread news and rumors faster than it can be verified in 2022.
The Hellbound’s Twitch streamer analog, the loud, neon-lit Arrowhead streamer, takes advantage of the opportunity to gain clout, gain followers, and preach the New Truth Society’s religious doctrines and morality-based explanations for supernatural events. Many people who receive Hellbound’s decrees flee to remote locations to avoid having their shameful executions filmed and shared on social media. The main characters in Hellbound use the internet to gather information and make their next moves. Despite the growing amount of videos online, the public remains divided on whether or not the decrees and executions are real, given how easy it is to fabricate video evidence. After The New Truth uses television news networks to nationally broadcast Park Jeong-(Kim ja’s Shin-Rock) execution live, the events are largely accepted as real. Director Yeon Sang-nightmare ho’s tale is brought closer to home by setting Hellbound in the near future.
The time jump begins in Hellbound season 1 episode 4, setting up the shocking finale. Park Jeong-live ja’s demonic execution took place 5 years ago. The New Truth Society has had enough time to mature from a fringe cult to a full-fledged organized religion. Following Chairman Jung Jin-death, soo’s Pastor Kim Jeong-chil (Lee Dong-hee) takes over and constructs a large and imposing structure to serve as The New Truth Society’s headquarters. The site of Park Jeong-execution ja’s becomes one of The New Truth’s many sacred sites, honoring the places where alleged acts of God have occurred. Pastor Kim appoints Deacons to act as enforcers for the organization. The New Truth Society devolves into a proto-fascist religious bureaucracy without Chairman Jin-idealistic soo’s asceticism and stern moral compass. Hellbound requires a 5-year time jump from episode 3 to episode 4 in order to demonstrate how a cult can use fanaticism to gain secular political authority and power.
Members of The New Truth Society in 2027, like the Fremen of Dune, continue to follow the ideals of their messiah, even though he is no longer alive. Although Jung Jin-soo was essential in establishing the organization’s message, the message has grown larger than Jin-soo and has been distorted to fit the needs and desires of The New Truth Society’s central committee, which could be compared to Korea’s massive megachurches. In fact, the Yoido Full Gospel Church, the world’s largest megachurch, is located in South Korea. Despite a series of scandals involving its top officials, the Yoido Full Gospel Church has an 800,000-strong congregation.
Furthermore, Pastor Kim Jeong-name chil’s sounds suspiciously like Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s former supreme leader, who, like Pastor Kim, only inherited power from his predecessor.
These parallels are revealed thanks to Hellbound’s time jumps and flashbacks. Despite the fact that Hellbound season 2 is not yet on Netflix’s schedule for 2022, the fantasy series’ compelling story of fanaticism and morality is sure to continue. Hellbound not only ends on several cliffhangers, but its rising popularity means that Netflix is likely to order a second season.
