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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Park Shin-hye, Kim Jae-young, Kim In-kwon
Latest Nielsen rating: 9.3 per cent
A judge from hell gets her own taste of damnation when she is condemned to rise to the world of the living in the thoroughly enjoyable legal thriller The Judge from Hell, starring Park Shin-hye (Doctor Slump).
Park plays Kang Bit-na, a judge from the Seoul District Court who is stabbed by an unknown assailant in a park on a snowy night. After being compelled to walk through an ominous portal, she finds herself in a court of the underworld presided over by the demon Justicia (Oh Na-ra).


This court is reserved exclusively for murderers and Bit-na, as a victim of murder, is not among them. Nevertheless, the impatient Justicia condemns Bit-na for her impertinence, brands her with her devil stamp and sends her to Gehenna (in the Bible a place similar to Hades).
None too pleased by this is the head of the underworld, Bael (Shin Sung-rok), who appears before Justicia and forces her to atone for her mistake by sending her to the world of humans in the form of Bit-na, where she must track down and kill 10 unrepentant murderers in a year.
As Bit-na, Justicia awakes in a hospital and has a brief conference with a group of bemused doctors during which she claims that she is a demon.
She plays along and assumes the robes of the Seoul District Court, with her trusty assistant Valak by her side in the form of court clerk Koo Man-do (Kim In-kwon).

Fond of guzzling cans of cola and getting things over and done with, Bit-na rushes through her court cases to give her time to pursue her real work – identifying murderers and earning her ticket back to hell.
The first case of hers we see is that of police detective Han Da-on (Kim Jae-young, Love in Contract), who is on trial for attacking a knife-wielding suspect.
Bit-na sees right through the prosecution’s claims of excessive use of force and makes a mockery of them, and of the court to boot, with her devil-may-care attitude, before tossing the case out before lunch.
Mistaking her judgment as a sign of moral steadfastness, Da-on attempts to thank Bit-na before she speeds off in her red sports car.

Before the day is out the pair meet again, after Bit-na confronts Cha Min-jeong (Park Jung-yeon), who has been coerced into writing a letter seeking a pardon for her boyfriend, who is charged with committing domestic abuse.
Naturally, the police officer in charge of Min-jeong’s case is the righteous and handsome Da-on, who wants her vile boyfriend, Moon Jeong-hun (Jang Do-ha), put behind bars.
Bit-na is the judge in Jeong-hun’s case, and while she knows that he could kill Min-jeong if he is not handed a prison sentence, it is precisely for this reason that she lets him off with a fine. She wants him to kill Min-jeong, since this would give her the chance to kill him and be one notch closer to hell.
This is a pretty grim premise, but part of the fun of The Judge from Hell is seeing how the narrative avoids such as scenario. Bit-na may be a demon, but this is a Korean drama series and she is played by star actress Park. She may start out bad, but she sure as hell is not going to end up that way.

The actress may share top billing for The Judge From Hell with Kim Jae-young, but make no mistake – this is Park’s show through and through. With her dyed red hair, Chanel suits and collection of luxury handbags, she slinks around the courthouse like a tiger in the jungle, relaxed but ready to attack at a moment’s notice.
She delivers a formidable performance, oozing confidence and showing a keen sense of comic timing. Indeed, Park so dominates the screen that her co-stars have few opportunities to make an impression. Can anyone go toe to toe with her? Only time will tell.
This is the first Korean drama series directed by veteran filmmaker Park Jin-pyo. Active since the early 2000s, Park is known for films such as You Are My Sunshine, Voice of a Murderer and Closer to Heaven.
He stumbled recently with the action comedy Brave Citizen, a vehicle for Shin Hye-sun’s talents, but has returned to form quickly with The Judge from Hell, which is bouncy, stylish and shows a strong command of tone and pacing.

With nine more souls to claim, Bit-na has a long road ahead of her, and that is good news for viewers at home watching her devilish exploits.
The Judge from Hell is streaming on Disney+.
Headlines were written with the help of artificial intelligence.


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