Netflix’s newest Korean hit series Hellbound creator Yeon Sang-ho, has reportedly been taken aback by the show’s unfathomable success.
Following its release on November 19, 2021, the show has received widespread critical acclaim and praise due to its bleak and nihilistic premise. The show serves as a scathing commentary on religious fanaticism, human hypocrisy, impending doom, as well as records the frenzied reaction of an anxious and paranoid nation when faced with the uncanny.
In a recent interview, Yeon spoke about how “bewildered” he was by the show’s warm reception worldwide, which even dethroned Squid Game, another popular Korean series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, to take over the top position on Netflix’s popularity charts.
Having not anticipated this reaction, the Train to Busan director said, “When I first talked about Hellbound with Netflix, I did not think that it would universally resonate with the audiences.” He admitted that his “target audience was a niche market of those who like this genre.”
The director is humbled by the response to his show and said that he would have been happy even if the series did not top the charts. He said that he “went to sleep with a sigh of relief” when the series hit the number one spot.
When the series stayed on the first spot on Netflix’s global charts, the director was flooded with congratulatory messages and the whole event left him admittedly “stunned, bewildered, and grateful for this result”.
Based on Choi Kyu-Seok’s webtoon, Hellbound ends on a pretty meaningful note and sets the pace for the second season. Yeon is reportedly working closely with both Netflix and Choi for a second season.
Read more about the director’s plans for a potential second season here.
Starring Yoo Ah-In, Park Jung-min and Won Jin-Ah, among others, Hellbound is now streaming on Netflix.
