Hellbound is quickly becoming the latest Korean Netflix drama to achieve world domination after the huge success of Squid Game.
And the growing Hellbound fanbase are now starting to share their theories about three of the spookiest figures in the show.
In this dystopian, alternate version of Earth, supernatural creatures drag humans to the depths of Hell, leaving only a charred skeleton behind.
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The creatures, known as the 'smoke monsters' by fans, act in a similar way to the Grim Reaper, the personification of death.
But some viewers on Reddit believe the smoke monsters have an even deeper hidden meaning.
After bingeing all six episodes, one Reddit user said the monsters are actually an allegory and they take certain people to hell, for reasons that are unknown, as two religious groups try to use these odd supernatural events to push their own agendas.
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The most prominent group is the New Truth Society led by chairman Jeong Jin-soo (Yoo Ah-in) who appears to be kind.
This group believes the ‘sinners’ that are sent to hell should be used as a cautionary tale for how to live life properly on Earth.
But there’s also the Arrowhead cult, and they operate more like an online conspiracy theory group with no organisation.
Both groups believe that the unfortunate people snatched by the monsters are sinners and the odd supernatural events are a sign from God.
The Reddit user said: "Seen all episodes and I like it. The shadow monsters are closer to an allegory. They are like cancer or a plague. They take away some people, rather randomly, and we do not know why (yet)."
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The user also suggested a (potential) second season could explore a different allegory, but with the same monsters.
"A new religion offers to make sense by creating an adhoc dogma and gather power on the process. The second season might be very different and tackle another allegory."
Another Reddit user agreed, writing: "I don't know why I didn't see this before, I was too focused on the monsters but [you] are absolutely correct and it makes so much sense."
Hellbound director Yeon Sang-ho explained why the monsters appear in groups of three, and the inspiration behind their design.
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He told Soompi: “While looking at the image of hell’s grim reaper, people will think about what hell is and start to imagine. I made it while thinking about what kind of character would capture how we imagined hell.
“The reason they stick together is because I think lynching is a horror keyword. For lynching that’s done to few people, I thought about how many people would be necessary for it to feel like a group and I thought three was enough.”
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Featured Image Credit: Netflix