The ‘hell’ that attracted the whole world… After ‘Ogem’, the long-term reigning Gazah~!!

The result, once again, was praised as “the power of K-contents”. According to FlixPatrol, an online video service (OTT) content aggregation site, ‘Hell’ reclaimed the top spot in the global Netflix TV show category on the 22nd (local time). It ranked first on the first day of the release, but after giving up a seat for a while, it showed its strength again. It took first place in 24 countries including Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Poland, Belgium and Saudi Arabia. The first place was ‘Squid Game’ until Hell reached number one. This means that K-contents battled for first place.

◆K-content ‘double hit’ with squid game ‘halo effect’

The secret to hell’s success is, above all, a solid scenario based on a webtoon of the same name. Going back and forth between religion and philosophy, he delves deeply into human nature, fear, and collective psychology, and the computer graphics (CG) of monsters is delicately applied to enhance the visual perfection.

The timing of the release also played a role in the box office success. After the success of ‘Squid Game’, it appeared at a time when interest in K-content was high, and the halo effect was greatly appreciated. As hell immediately hit after the squid game, it became clear that the recent success of K-contents was not a coincidence.

Kang Hye-won, a popular culture critic, pointed out, “There is a network effect in the rapid spread and rise of Korean content on Netflix.” This means that a fandom may have been created because of content that has been successful in the past, or that users may have developed a belief that Korean content can guarantee some level of fun.

Critic Kang said, “Just as the K-pop masses were secured after BTS reached a certain level, dramas can be viewed as having secured significant numbers entering the virtuous cycle.” The fact that a hit came out will eventually become a strong asset for the Korean content industry in the future.”

Hell scored 100% on the Freshness Index, which indicates ratings on the American critic site Rotten Tomatoes. The freshness index can change as the number of participants increases. ‘Squid Game’ also recorded 100% right after its release, but it has dropped to 94% now, with 64 critics participating. One Top Critic said of Hell, “It can be a bit slow in the beginning, but it’s an attractive mix of horrors of violence and human flaws, death, sin, justice, and the influence of the media.” As of the 23rd, the general audience review recorded 80% of the audience rating with 200 people participating within two days of its release.

◆ Criticism of the new genre ‘without laughter’

Opinions are divided as to whether the long-term success such as Squid Game will continue. This is because there is a huge difference in likes and dislikes. It is pointed out that the entertainment quality is poor because Hell is consistent with a dark atmosphere without laughter. This is evidenced by the fact that they gave up the number one spot on the first day after being ranked first on the first day of release.

In the case of ‘Squid Game’, it was full of bloody scenes, but a line saying, “What kind of gift did you spend 6 billion won on?” A scene in which Ki-hoon (Lee Jung-jae) explains about a squid game where murder is committed at the police station, a gangster character In scenes such as the scene where Deok-soo is plotting a plan to steal 45.6 billion won, comic elements are included to the extent that it makes people laugh out loud. In Hell, on the other hand, there are not many laughs in the midst of repeated brutal scenes of people being beaten by monsters, blood being splattered, and people being burned. It can be said that the comical figure of a pseudo-religious leader who is caricatured in the play is almost unique, trying to express himself in a cool way. Rather, “Why do humans sin?”, “What is God’s intention?” You should be more just”, “Doesn’t God not believe in human autonomy?”, “What makes people repent if not for fear?” The social, religious, and philosophical questions asked to viewers are 6 times, 300 minutes in total. Fill the time heavily.

On IMDB, an American movie and drama information site, ‘Hell’ scored 6.8 out of 10 on the 23rd. 28.6% gave 10 points, but 7.8% gave 1 point. In the case of the squid game, the number of viewers who gave 1 point is only 1%.

Korea’s ‘dystopian world’

Critics are more inclined to view the long-term success potential as high. In the sense that it deviated from the existing genre grammar, some people may feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but experts give it a higher score as ‘fresh’.

Critic Jeong Deok-hyeon said, “In terms of genre grammar, when a monster appears, we contemplate how to fight it, and a hero appears and a confrontation with the monster takes place. There is no protagonist who penetrates the whole. The main characters continue to change and show a variety of choices that many people choose.”

There are voices that put more weight on long-term box office success in that the method of showing the various human figures cast in ‘dystopia’ is similar.

The squid game simultaneously showed the human side and extreme cruelty of those who were driven into the murder and survival game due to economic inequality, and the people who overcome it along with the weakness of the human being shaken in an unprecedented situation of the murder of a monster in Hell. together with the appearance of Both dramas showed various kinds of humanity, such as saving one’s life at the expense of one’s own, extremeness of driving the other to death for my own benefit, and collective madness. And the unrealistic setting of a survival game, a monster, paradoxically played a role in showing the most realistic appearance as the episodes were repeated.

Critic Jeong praised, “Hell shows a religion that was born out of human desire, which is difficult to withstand if (the world) is disorderly and unpredictable, and an anomic situation in which pseudo and lies outside its essence intervene.”

[ⓒ 세계일보 & Segye.com, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]