I suspect that ‘The Squid Game’ will be mentioned a lot to try to draw attention to ‘Heading to Hell’, a series from the ‘Train to Busan’ director to Netflix that arrived on the platform this Friday, November 19. I myself fell into temptation when I told you about the appearance of its trailer, but the truth is that there are few points in common between the two beyond the fact that both come to us from Korea.
‘Heading to Hell’ presents a society in which the appearance of mysterious creatures ends with the death of a person and the promise that something like this will happen again. From there we find an absorbing series with a sinister point that offers a varied and satisfying portrait of everything that arises around that strange incident.
Differentiated impacts
In ‘Heading to Hell’ we find various narrative focuses. On the one hand we have the inevitable police investigation, in which an attempt is made to find a rational explanation for what is happening, because of course, the possibility that these strange beings come from hell is not something that can be considered seriously. This anchors the series to reality, but knowing how to escape from the more monotonous side of this type of plot, in part because it is becoming increasingly clear to them that there is a supernatural component in another this.
On the other hand there is a sect obsessed with seeing all this as a sign from God, choosing to focus everything around her leader, a man with a way of life much more mundane than one would expect in such cases. However, that more fanatic side is coming to light little by little, thus allowing the character played with solvency by Yoo Ah-in cajole the viewer in the same way as he does with his faithful.
And beyond all that we have how society responds to an event of these characteristics. In its own way, ‘Rumbo al inferno’ channels that energy typical of conspiracy theories, giving it a religious touch that shows that this associated fear remains in humanity. to the possible existence of a higher entity.
Gradually getting thinner
There this adaptation of the director’s webtoon Yeon sang-ho offers a varied range of emotions, from the greatest drama in showing the attitude of the new designated victim to the madness in the shadow of the rest of society. On that side, ‘Rumbo al infierno’ is gradually sliding a generous dose of bad vibes called to keep growing until everything explodes definitively.
However, what really predominates at all times is an air of regret and inevitability that fits quite well with the story it tells. Some may miss a more suffocating atmosphere, perhaps along the lines of that oppressive and decadent atmosphere that characterized the magnificent ‘Seven’, but here what Sang-ho seems to be looking for is that that gradually arises, and it is quite successful, because it grows in parallel with everything becoming more and more rare.
Little weaknesses
Of course, not everything works as well, since visually a little more investment in visual effects would have been appreciated, since the design of the creatures is imposing and their attacks convey the forcefulness required, but the digital finish can be improved, especially when the creatures are retreating, and I don’t think it took so much expense to achieve it.
The other detail that shocks is how to approach how you react online to what happensNot because one cannot believe that someone as given to excesses as that character that appears can exist, but because it breaks a bit with the tone that the rest of the series transmits. Nothing serious and it diminishes in its successive appearances, but it is worth mentioning it.
All in all, those little slips don’t prevent ‘Heading to Hell’ I ended up catching you and leaving you wanting to know how the enigma it raises will be solved, or at least how everything is going to evolve and how that affects the gallery of characters it presents and those who are yet to come. And it is that his human side is quite accurate, also handling the tension with ease, leaving wanting more with the end of the episode.
In short
‘Heading to hell’ worth. It starts very powerful and from there it grows steadily to show the viewer what happens from a paranormal phenomenon that functions more as a point of impulse than as the main dramatic axis. It has its problems, but its virtues more than make up for them.