The Judge from Hell (2024) 지옥에서 온 판사
Directed by Park Jin-pyo, starring Park Shin-hye as Kang Bit-na/Justitia and Kim Jae-young as Han Da-on.
Watched 18 July - 6 August 2025 — 14 episodes (KISSKH)
*Totally enjoyed this fantasy revenge drama which has favourable reviews and good ratings. Though not without flaws, it's consistently thrilling. It's available to stream on Disney+ but region restricted (disgruntled emoticon), so I had to go to KISSKH. This bootleg site is amazing, with HD prints and fast loading times. It's a life-saver (lol) when I can't use any of my legal subscriptions. (At one point KISSKH briefly put pop-up ads on the screen so I went to VK to finish the episode.)
*Great role for Park Shin-hye and she must have had a fun time with her character Kang Bit-na/Justitia. She has an extensive wardrobe with tweed suits and all, still I loved her best in the episode where she's wearing a black outfit with trousers and boots and a ponytail. She plays a judge, who gets murdered and is brought back to life, possessed by the demon Justitia, the Goddess of Justice (a small guest role by Oh Na-ra). Her mission is to kill 10 criminals and send them to Hell. Therefore she gives defendants light sentences so upon release she can hunt them down and make them go through the same suffering as their victims, before she kills and brands them. Honestly, I was shocked by the extent of Bit-na/Justitia's violence and ruthlessness. This revenge thing, taking matter into one's own hands, reminded me very much of Taxi Driver and this series often exudes the same vibe, with upbeat music.
*The male lead Kim Jae-young might be my favourite person from this show. I had never seen the actor before but I like him a lot. His character Han Da-on is a compassionate police officer and I like how emotional he is. And cute! (Maybe too cute? They could have made him a little bit tougher.)
*I was curious about the romance between the main couple because I'd seen wedding pics online (turns out the wedding was a sequence from an illusion). I like how things are out in the open early on and that Da-on knows Bit-na is a demon. She's not secretive about it at all and he tells her he's staying around because he wants to know more about her, but also suspects her of the killings.
*Bit-na finds Da-on cute and adorable (like me) and tells him so numerous times. He is indeed very adorable in episode 7 when he's drunk and confesses to her he almost fell for her. He's clearly conflicted because he hás fallen for Bit-na but he knows she's a demon and she confuses him because she's both good and bad. He has to catch her but doesn't want to. Later on in the show he wants revenge for the murders of his parents, brother and his adoptive mum and he wants Bit-na to help him. He even wants to go to Hell with her. That's true love!
*I love how Bit-na slowly develops feelings for Da-on and is having heart palpitations when she's around him.
*I like Bit-na's bespectacled assistant/demon (Kim In-kwon as Gu Man-do), the religious woman (Kim Jae-hwa as Jang Myeong-suk), the two guys/demons who are cleaning up the crime scenes (the bloodstain-remover tool is so cool!), but most of all I like Kim Young-ok as Oh Mi-ja, an elderly Hwangcheon Villa resident and a disguise of the angel Gabriel. She plays a pivotal role in saving Bit-na. Yet I didn't like Kim Ah-young as Lee A-rong/Gremory (Bit-na's other assistant) very much. By the way, Shin Sung-rok as Bael, the Director of Hell, looks great, and and it was nice to see Park Ho-san as Satan.
*The final episode is pretty satisfying. I love how Bit-na redeems herself, having become more human and realising what the families of the victims have gone through. The big bad villain of the show is finally taken down. Bit-na's mission on Earth is complete, but Bael grants her wish of staying 3 more years on Earth to live as a real human judge. Then there's a 2-year time lapse and we see how everyone is doing and is healed. Lucifer gives Bit-na, who's still a demon on Earth, a choice to become human for the rest of her life but she has to kill 10 more sinners and send them to Hell. I like the fact that she discusses this option with Da-on and that he trusts her whatever she chooses. The show's ending is open to interpretation. The last shown court case leaves Bit-na incensed and you can imagine what she wants to do with the defendant/scumbag. I love the final ending with the kids, reminiscent of the scene from episode 1. Somebody online interpreted Bit-na's answer to the kids' question whether she is a good judge or a bad one ("I am a judge from Hell") as a hint that Bit-na did accept Lucifer's deal of sending 10 sinners to Hell in order to stay human forever. Well, that's good enough for me!
*Incidentally ... I was wondering about the real Bit-na, and I rewatched parts of episode 1 and read up on her online. She was a sinner and sent to Hell, but due to a sinner classification mistake she was brought to Murder Hell instead of Fake Hell. Because Justitia almost branded her as a murderer despite real Bit-na's plea of innocence, Bael sent Justitia to Earth with the mission. I had thought real Bit-na might play a role later on in the show but she's already in Fake Hell so her story ends there. On Earth real Bit-na was stabbed and survived (because Justitia had entered her body) and she lost her memory. Someone online suggested that real Bit-na was a sinner because she might have been corrupt.
*I would have liked to see more of the romance. I thought it was kind of mind-boggling that Bit-na has 3 years left on Earth and 2 of these 3 years she spends away from Da-on!!! By the way, I looooove their encounter on the bridge after the trial in episode 13 and their natural love declaration and sweet kiss. I love how Bit-na confesses to Da-on that he's the only weakness in her life.
*This show has a lot of violence and blood and gore but I love the fantasy special effects.
*Bit-na to Da-on in the final episode: "Humans promise forever, though they know nothing of the future. But I'm sure they are genuine when they make the promise. I can't promise you forever, but I will promise you this. The memories we build together will sustain me for eons to come. So, be happy for the next three years, even if it's just for me. Okay?"