[imagesource: Netflix]

The imminence of death and dying is a timeless topic, gripping at a personal and societal level.

It also makes for a poignant premise in a world that has seen well in excess of five million deaths from COVID-19 in under two years.

Netflix’s new six-part supernatural horror from Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho does a superb job of exploring the question of when and how death will come, often to horrifying results.

It makes sense then that as of November 20, Hellbound became the world’s most-watched Netflix series, taking the crown from the other immensely popular South Korean horror series, Squid Game.

Hellbound has gone and topped the streaming ratings in more than 80 countries within 24 hours of its debut, reported The Guardian:

The series centres around the graphically violent actions of a team of demons, who hunt down sinners who have been previously visited by a celestial being who has informed the victim of their date and time of death.

The giant hairy creatures incinerate their victims and send them to hell, prompting an outbreak of public hysteria and religious zealotry.

Already in the trailer, all hell has broken loose:

The series doesn’t only force the characters to face their own mortality en masse, but it also shows how different elements of society will respond to a supernatural event.

Often the scariest parts of Hellbound are not so much the monsters, but rather the people who willingly dissociate from their fellow humans’ suffering and enact violence of their own.

We saw elements of that amidst the gore and horror of Squid Game, too.

Speaking of which, Squid Game has a second season coming, so it might just take back its top spot on the most-watched list at some stage.

[source:guardian]