Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds — Meet the Director and Cast

Every hell in Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds needed a face the audience could trust to walk through it. Here is a look at the director who built that world, and the cast who carried it.

The Director

Kim Yong-hwa wrote and directed Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds. Before this project, he was already known in Korea for box office hits like 200 Pounds Beauty and Take Off. While making Mr. Go (2013), he grew unsatisfied with the visual effects he could get from outside vendors for the film’s CG gorilla, so he founded the VFX company Dexter Studios himself. That studio became the backbone of the Along with the Gods series. Kim shot both The Two Worlds and its sequel, The Last 49 Days, at the same time, a rare and expensive approach for Korean cinema.

📸 Official SNS: No confirmed official account found. Updates are typically shared through Dexter Studios and official film promotion channels.

The Cast

Ha Jung-woo as Gang-rim

Ha Jung-woo plays Gang-rim, the sharp, guarded leader of the three grim reapers. Ha is one of Korea’s most consistently bankable leading men, known for films like The Chaser and The Handmaiden. He is also an active painter, holding solo exhibitions alongside his acting career.

📸 Official SNS: Instagram @__hajungwoo

Cha Tae-hyun as Kim Ja-hong

Cha Tae-hyun plays Kim Ja-hong, the firefighter whose entire afterlife hinges on a secret from his past. Cha has been a familiar face in Korean film and variety television for decades, well known for My Sassy Girl and long-running variety show 2 Days & 1 Night.

📸 Official SNS: No confirmed official account found. Cha Tae-hyun does not appear to run a personal social media account.

Ju Ji-hoon as Hae Won-maek

Ju Ji-hoon plays Hae Won-maek, the sword-skilled, sharp-tongued reaper of the trio. He has built a wide-ranging career across film and television, including the zombie period drama Kingdom.

📸 Official SNS: Instagram @_jujihoon

Kim Hyang-gi as Deok-choon

Kim Hyang-gi plays Deok-choon, the youngest of the three reapers. A former child actor, she has built an acclaimed adult career with films like Innocent Witness. Her Instagram handle traces back to an on-set nickname Ha Jung-woo gave her during filming.

📸 Official SNS: Instagram @kimsmell1

Kim Dong-wook as Kim Soo-hong

Kim Dong-wook plays Soo-hong, Ja-hong’s younger brother, whose fate drives much of the film’s second half. He has also starred in dramas such as Mystic Pop-up Bar.

📸 Official SNS: Instagram @kimdngwk

Lee Jung-jae as Yeomra

Lee Jung-jae plays Yeomra, the King of the underworld, whose interventions quietly shape the story’s later events. Long before his globally recognized role in Squid Game, Lee had already built a decades-long career in Korean film and television, including New World and Il Mare.

📸 Official SNS: Instagram @from_jjlee

The Team Behind the Trials

It took a large team to build seven distinct hells. Dexter Studios, Kim Yong-hwa’s own VFX house, handled the visual effects, drawing on reportedly around 300 artists and technicians. Lotte Entertainment distributed the film in Korea. Before it even premiered, the film was pre-sold to 12 countries and regions at the Asian Film Market in Busan, then to 90 more at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, bringing the total to 103 countries and regions, a strong early signal of how much confidence the industry had in this story.

Editor’s Rating

9.0 / 10

A cast this experienced made even the film’s most over-the-top fantasy trials feel emotionally grounded.

Related Reads on K-Unpacked

Catch up on the series: Part 1: A spoiler-free introduction and Part 2: The ending explained. If you enjoyed Ha Jung-woo and Ju Ji-hoon’s chemistry here, you might also like our breakdown of Korea’s box office giants in the Korea box office rankings series.

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