Movies And Shows To Watch After You Finish Hellbound

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Voltaire's description of dying, offered to Louis Nicolas Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, baron de Preuilly in 1723, goes like this: "[I] made my confession; and my will, which ... was exceedingly short. After that, I calmly awaited death: only regretting ... that I must part from my friends so soon." Voltaire, of course, was a philosopher who wrote on behalf of the French Enlightenment, a movement that favored human happiness. To its members, knowledge wasn't merely power. It could be peace or joy, as well.

In "Hellbound," the knowledge that God exists does not grant enlightenment, peace, or joy. Rather, because it comes from grey, hulking monsters who descend on Earth to drag living miscreants to Hell, it brings madness. And what winds up being even scarier than the monsters in Yeon Sang-Ho's excellent Netflix series are the cult leaders, fringe groups, and general opportunists who seize power when the laws of nature feel so fragile. 

A terrifying cast of characters is just one reason why "Hellbound" is a smash hit in the United States. The others include director Yeon Sang-Ho, the sudden boom of great Korean genre fare, and the show's own incisive examinations of morality, guilt, and judgement. Given that, here are 11 movies and shows to watch after you've finished "Hellbound" on Netflix.

If "Train to Busan" clarifies the themes of Yeon Sang-Ho's "Hellbound," "Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula" exists to confuse them. Simply put, "Peninsula" is a swing and miss. It's overly reliant on beats from better-known zombie films ("28 Weeks Later," "World War Z," etc.) and more subservient to dodgy CGI than its 2016 predecessor. Why, then, am I recommending it?

Because strikeouts can be wonderful. There's magic in seeing effort realized by an artist who knows what they're doing, even when the end result isn't home-run worthy. Watching Sang-Ho become a more confident director is something to behold, particularly when the attempted flexes of "Peninsula" inform the heavy lifting that "Hellbound" pulls off easily. This film is, like many at-bats, a stepping stone to bigger and better things. If you want to understand why "Hellbound" succeeds, "Peninsula" is necessary and rewarding homework.

"Hellbound" isn't the first Korean work to ask tough questions about faith, religion, and the violence underlying both. I'm not sure that distinction belongs to "Thirst," either, but Park Chan-wook's dazzlingly erotic vampire film reached the States before most, netting a healthy $13 million at the worldwide box office and introducing many to the great Kang Hong-so, who plays the Roman Catholic priest Sang-hyun and would later breakout with "Parasite." It's a film that, like its medically affected protagonists, has barely aged a day since its release. It rips.

The ways in which it rips, however, make it a fascinating companion piece to "Hellbound." At the risk of deploying mild spoilers, the catalyst for Sang-hyun's transformation to vampirism is an act of sacrifice. He volunteers for a medical procedure because he believes that is how a good life is led. He is not responsible for the blood transfusion that saves him and renders him instantly prone to vampirism, despite his best efforts to resist. 

How would the obelisks of "Hellbound" find Sang-hyun? At which point on his journey would he still be bound for Heaven? It's a question that "Thirst" doesn't successfully answer, but one that lingers throughout its run time and long after the credits roll. I personally imagine it's one that Yeon Sang-Ho asked himself, if he happened to see "Thirst" before making "Hellbound." If you check out "Thirst" for yourself, the question will happily haunt you, as well.

The previously mentioned Jung Jin-su — cult leader, true believer, and evangelist of angel beatdowns — is one of the most compelling characters in "Hellbound." An enigma right up until the season's final moments, his decree that a woman be beaten on television for all to see is undeniably savage, but it's also frighteningly understandable. These creatures have already been seen by thousands. Their continued exposure to the public lets them be the change Jin-su wants to see in the world. They're impossible to wipe from your mind.

In some ways, Banjong Pisanthanakun's "The Medium," a Shudder exclusive from Thailand that premiered on the service in 2021, has the same thrust. It's shot in a mockumentary style, and follows Nim, a woman who claims to be possessed by the spirit of Bayan, a deity that the locals around her worship. The film crew comes to document Nim and her healing powers. The project, of course, goes off the rails almost immediately.

"The Medium" is ultimately more of a slow-burn than "Hellbound," but its interrogation of what faith yields is strikingly similar. Without spoiling the film's ending, Nim's sister, who converted to Christianity to avoid being Bayan's shaman, plays a pivotal role in the proceedings, as does her religion. And did I mention the film was created by the team behind "The Wailing"? That, as well as its stirring examination of who truly speaks for divinity, are reasons to stream "The Medium" as soon as possible.

If "The Leftovers" is a thoughtful meditation on the nature of Heaven and Hell, Francis Lawrence's "Constantine" is a film that does some whiskey shots in both and lets the good times roll on through. Released before the superhero movie boom that Marvel catalyzed, this DC Comics adaptation was promptly deemed a bomb by critics, but, as with John Constantine generally, rumors of its demise were greatly exaggerated. "Constantine" endures on both film Twitter and HBO Max for a variety of devilish reasons.

For one, like "Hellbound," "Constantine" takes care in the realization of its visuals. Naturalistically shot urban environments give way to surreal and threatening interiors, and the creature effects are otherworldly yet feel bizarrely organic. Additionally, as in "Hellbound," the cast delivers in spades. John Constantine is a peak Keanu Reeves role, one that marries his predilection for simmering anger to some wry dialogue he can channel it through. Rachel Weisz is reliably great. Tilda Swinton plays the angel Gabriel; that casting sells itself.

More than anything, though, "Constantine" is a crowd-pleasing counterpoint to "Hellbound," offering an action-packed chaser to the Netflix series' labored, slow-burn horror. It reminds you why you enjoy watching shows like this in the first place, and that makes it a fine post-"Hellbound" treat.

Two episodes into its run and I'm looking for any excuse to recommend Showtime's "Yellowjackets" to anyone. Best described as "Lord of the Flies" by way of both "Lost" and peak Margaret Atwood, this show, created by Ashley Lyle and Bert Nickerson, has an instantly classic pilot directed by Karyn Kusama ("The Invitation," "Destroyer") and a twisty, shocking story. 

While it isn't clear yet how much common ground "Yellowjackets" will ultimately share with "Hellbound," if you enjoyed "Hellbound," you clearly have an affinity for genre television. You're willing to follow a story to dark places. You enjoy it when intelligent subtext meets viscera and blood. "Yellowjackets" has all this, and then some. 

More than anything, "Yellowjackets" is, even early into its run, a story about the primal parts of ourselves that we withhold from ourselves. Sometimes that's society's fault. Other times, it's our beliefs'. "Yellowjackets" presents a scenario where all the colors of its characters' personalities come bleeding through to the surface, no matter the situation, place, or decade. It makes its protagonists face the selves they would be judged for if divine arbiters ever saw them. That makes it worthy of a watch, particularly as a "Hellbound" companion piece.