HOPE (2026)

A sci-fi action horror that is as grippingly exhilarating as it is bafflingly disappointing, Hope finds Korean director Na Hong-jin flexing his blockbuster muscles in another frustrating case of franchise worldbuilding derailing character storytelling.

The first 90 minutes of the sprawling Hope is a masterful example of creature-feature filmmaking. Set in the (fictional) South Korean village of Hope Harbour, the 2 hour and 40 minutes Hope begins with exasperated police chief Ko Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) and his hunter cousin Ko Sung-ki (Zo In-sung) examining the aftermath of a presumed wild animal attack on farm cattle.

As Bum-seok heads back into town to alert its citizens while Sung-ki and his posse of hunters search the nearby forest for the animal, Bum-seok is confronted with the scene of a village besieged by this mysterious monster.

Taking a big old solid cue from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, director and writer Na Hong-jin (The Wailing) cleverly does not reveal what this macabre monster of murderous mayhem could be and lets its trail of death and destruction speak for itself. And what a spectacular sight of suspense-driven gore thrills Hong-jin’s first act proves to be, as Bum-seok follows the human-limb scattered, building-thrashed trail with the right amount of adrenaline and horror, hesitating to turn into every corner and tread down every alley while mourning the murder of a populace he simply could not protect. It’s a wonderful performance by Hwang Jung-min: physical, funny, with just the right amount of ham.

Then comes the plot-twist. As Hope switches its focus to Sung-ki’s team of hunters and their search for answers in the woods, the hope that Hope could be the film to usher in a new era of monster-movie magnificence slowly fades away as (of course) aliens come into play and the genuine becomes the generic, as Hong-jin’s vision begins to resemble a bad Sony Pictures superhero movie complete with poor CGI that sticks out like a sore oozing thumb when compared to the practical movie-making that was the norm throughout Hope.

In a cinematic landscape drowning in superhero-style spectacle of invading alien hordes and the like, there is a need for filmmakers from other territories to provide an alternative in the blockbuster space. The sight of Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander in motion-capture mode as monstrous aliens caught in an intergalactic soap opera does the opposite, with the conclusion of Hope feeling more like a sci-fi knock-off than something original and fresh and exciting.

Hong-jin does provide stellar action filmmaking in Hope, yet he also gives in to mediocrity at the worst moment, delivering a film that achieves the exact opposite of its title when it comes to the current blockbuster landscape.