''Halfworlds'' is a

dark fantasy Dark fantasy, also called fantasy horror, is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror fiction, horror ...

thriller television series produced and created by

HBO Asia HBO Asia is the Asian division of HBO, headquartered in Singapore. Originally launched on 1 May 1992 as MovieVision, it was rebranded on 1 June 1995 to its current name upon Home Box Office, Inc. purchase. The Singapore-based broadcast networ ...

and written by Collin Chang. Set in present-day

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, the series reveals an underground society populated by

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

s from Asian

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

across the region. The first season of ''Halfworlds'', set in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and directed by

Joko Anwar Joko Anwar (born 3 January 1976) is an Indonesian film director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, he worked as a journalist and Film criticism, film critic. Anwar first rose to prominence for co-w ...

, premiered on 29 November 2015. A second season, set in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham, premiered on 22 January 2017. A third season was announced in November 2019 to be set in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and directed by Mikhail Red; production of the third season faced several delays due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Cast

; Season 1 * Salvita Decorte as Sarah * Arifin Putra as Barata * Reza Rahadian as Tony * Ario Bayu as Juragan * Bront Palarae as Gusti * Tara Basro as Ros * Adinia Wirasti as Nadia * Hannah Al-Rashid as Marni * Alex Abbad as Gorga * Aimee Saras as Pinung *

Nathan Hartono use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place ...

as Coki * Verdi Solaiman as Hasan * Cornelio Sunny as Bandi * Puteri Balqis as Tari ; Season 2 * Peem Jaiyen as Fyter * Tia Tavee as Juliet Langstorm * Emma Emika Grant as Pym * Myra Molloy as Wish * Arifin Putra as Barata * Reza Rahadian as Tony * David Asavanond as Charlie * Jake Macapagal as Kaprey * Charlie Ruedpokanon as Mick * Jeeja Yanin as Thip * Nicole Theriault as Warin * as Yao

Episodes

Season 1

Set in the city of

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, Halfworlds Season 1 lifts the veil on a parallel world of bloodthirsty creatures from Indonesian mythology who have lived amongst humans for centuries. They are known simply as "Demit" and have been carefully concealed by a powerful family of mortals. The arrival of the Gift, a mysterious supernatural event, causes this hidden world to reveal itself. As the day of the Gift draws near, Sarah, a street artist, finds herself caught between the worlds of human and Demit. Once the Demit find out who she really is, and what she must do, the delicate balance between the two worlds will be shaken forever. The first season of Halfworlds premiered on 29 November 2015.

Season 2

In the second season of Halfworlds, a tenacious researcher named Juliet is trying to uncover the secret world of demons known as "Peesaj" that live amongst mortals in the city of

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, Thailand. Armed with research by her late father, she embarks on a quest for an ancient artifact of great power. During her search, her actions draw the attention of the local Thai Peesaj. The second season of Halfworlds premiered on 22 January 2017.

Season 3

Reception

Awards

The first season received 6 nominations from the 21st Annual of Asian Television Awards.

Broadcast

References

External links

''Halfworlds''
– HBO Asia * {{IMDb title, 4766568, Halfworlds 2010s Indonesian television series 2015 Indonesian television series debuts 2016 Indonesian television series endings 2017 Thai television dramas Indonesian English-language television shows Thriller television series HBO Asia original programming Thai-language television dramas Mandarin-language television shows Indonesian-language television shows Dark fantasy television series Television series impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Television shows set in Indonesia Television shows set in Bangkok Television shows set in the Philippines Jakarta in fiction Multilingual television series