HELLBOUND SEASON 1 (THE NETFLIX SERIES WHERE DEMONS ARE JUST THE SIDESHOW)

Where to start with this one. What seems initially a fairly simple premise, rapidly becomes much more complex and terrifying than the actual monsters and their brutal rampage.

Hellbound is a story about the human race, through the lens of Seoul, Korea. A new religious group called The New Truth purport an understanding of recent, supernatural events of individuals being chased by great, lumbering monsters only to be beaten and incinerated by them; with the monsters disappearing without a trace.

The New Truth explains that they are demons, hunting down sinners and sending them directly to hell. They also explain that each of these victims had previously received a message from an angel dictating the exact time and date of the demons’ arrival. Belief, opinion and their following fluctuate wildly until they are able to get a ‘demonstration’ televised live, bringing their doctrine into sharp focus, and faith in The New Truth’s message skyrockets. The message being, if you are a sinner then one day you will get a decree, and you will deserve whatever happens to you.

The final part of a ‘demonstration’

Though I’ve seen some stories of modern world sociology mixed with religious events before, this has to be the most engaging and one of the smartest written ones. For one, it doesn’t get into any discussion or definitively stating ham-fisted opinions about the validity of religion or defining morality. It presents these questions, among many others, but never actually answers them. That is where the stories strength really lies. It keeps presenting ideas and leaving it completely up to the audience to decide what they think it means. Because while the characters will explain endlessly what they believe about whatever is occurring, it is still just presented as their opinion. Which brings me to what really sold me on the show. There aren’t enough facts to go around. Nothing is ever fully explained, because this isn’t a story about finding the truth, but how we make our own truth.

The first season is split into two parts, the first mostly focuses on a detective who is forced to investigate the mysterious events as an actual homicide case.  Since the concept of it being supernatural does not work for police procedure and their sense of justice, he must constantly try to find a grounded cause for these deaths and investigate the involvement of The New Truth. The second half is three years later, involving a TV producer and his wife, who become a threat to the now powerful church of The New Truth when their new-born, only a couple of hours old, is given a decree to die in three days. Since the church based its doctrine on people actively avoiding sin to avoid a decree, it should be impossible for an infant to receive one when it can’t have sinned.

Throughout both parts there is also the general human element in a world of mass-social media, aside from random events of public shaming and confession; it is harnessed by the The Arrowhead.  This group starts as a vigilante-gang and turn into an unofficial religious police that follow The New Truth with such fervour that they violently intimidate and persecute those they feel are against the church and doctrine.

The leader of the Arrowhead.

This story is a complex, layered nightmare of power, control and belief, as factions via for influence and meaning. Also on a personal level, as the individuals try to get through their lives, looking over their shoulder, and not just for the angels and demons. At first the police attempt to quell panic and look for reason and logic, but the evidence they locate keeps bringing their reality into question. When The New Truth gains social influence, they are eventually given the same quandary, with their inviolable doctrine brought into question. Proving that reality is often just an interpretation and a lot more fragile than any of us want to admit, but when revealed as such it can be far more terrifying than the certainty of death.

RATING: 7/10

WHERE TO WATCH: Netflix

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