Hope Review: Na Hong-jin’s Monster Epic Starts Great, Then Stumbles

Content note: This film is rated R for strong violence, gore, and language.

Ten years is a long time to wait for a new film from Na Hong-jin. The South Korean director behind The Chaser, The Yellow Sea, and The Wailing hasn’t released a movie since 2016. Hope ends that silence with his biggest, loudest, and strangest project yet.

The film premiered in competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, then became one of South Korea’s biggest openings of the year. It reached North American theaters through NEON on September 9. Here’s our full review.

Hope Story: A Creature Terrorizes a Border Village

Hope takes place in Hope Harbor, a small, remote fishing village in South Korea. It sits right next to the Demilitarized Zone, the heavily guarded border with North Korea. Signs warn residents about spies and landmines.

The trouble begins with a dead bull on a dirt road, slashed to pieces by something unknown. Police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) fears a dangerous predator, maybe even a tiger from Siberia. Worse, most local officials are away fighting wildfires in the mountains, so he’s short on help.

Bum-seok asks a group of hunters, led by the headstrong Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), to search the forest. He then heads into town and finds the horror there. Buildings lie in ruins, as if a tornado hit them. Bodies lie in the street. Many of them are people he knows.

Soon he partners with a rookie officer, Sung-ae (Hoyeon, from Squid Game), who’s foul-mouthed and fearless. With a couple of survivors, they form a small posse and race around town in a squad car loaded with weapons. The problem is that nothing they have seems to stop the creature.

Meanwhile, Sung-ki and the hunters track the beast through the forest. They quickly learn that they’ve become the prey. Along the way, they find a strange spaceship hidden in the woods, and the true scale of the story begins to unfold. The official synopsis hints at the rest: what begins as ignorance grows through human conflict into a tragedy of cosmic proportions.

An Opening Hour Built on Pure Dread

The first half of Hope is a master class in suspense. Na doesn’t show the monster right away. Instead, he shows what it leaves behind: wrecked buildings, torn bodies, and a huge bloody footprint. It’s a classic approach, similar to Jaws, where the unseen threat is scarier than any reveal.

Hwang gives Bum-seok a believable mix of fear and duty. He’s terrified, but he keeps doing his job. That mix of dread and stubborn bravery gives the film heart. It also makes the village feel real. Because the town is small, he knows nearly every victim, so each death hits closer to home.

When the creature finally appears after about an hour, it’s a tall, green, lanky figure that moves with terrifying speed. It smashes through people and property without hesitation, and it simply won’t die.

Action Scenes That Drop Jaws

This is where Hope shines. The film delivers some of the best action of the year. The stunt driving is spectacular. The car chases are fast, practical, and brutal. Shootouts and grenade blasts fill the screen with chaos, and even a horseback sequence gets its moment.

Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, who shot Burning and Parasite, films it all with wide, steady, immersive shots. The camera never gets lost in the mess. You always know where everyone is, which makes the action easier to enjoy.

The editing helps too. Editor Kim Sun-min cuts between the town battle and the forest hunt, so the tension never settles. It’s a relentless ride, and it plays especially well in a big theater.

Surprising Moments of Dark Humor

Hope is not all doom. Na adds quirky, absurd humor in unexpected places. An older hunter explains a major revelation through a long story about his stomach problems. The village fool may have accidentally started the whole mess. And in one wild scene, a character performs an alien autopsy with a chainsaw.

These jokes don’t undercut the horror. They add a strange, human texture. They also match the film’s chaotic spirit, which is both gruesome and playful.

The Aliens and the Biggest Problem

Here’s where the film stumbles. In the last half hour, the story turns toward the aliens, played in motion capture by Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton. Unfortunately, you’d never recognize them. Their digital designs look rough, and their movements feel stiff next to the film’s real locations and practical gore.

The dialogue doesn’t help. The aliens speak in vague, cryptic lines about a mysterious conflict. Because the film gives them so little backstory, the final stretch feels confusing. After two hours of vivid, physical filmmaking, the shift to weak CGI is jarring.

The film also leaves several threads dangling. A hunting dog vanishes without explanation. A pile of weapons goes unused. And nobody seems to call for outside military help, which feels odd for a national emergency.

What Is Hope Really About?

The film hints at big ideas. It plays with fear of outsiders and invasion, and it raises the question of misunderstanding. Several characters suggest that one of the creatures was only protecting its child. Yet nobody tries to communicate, and the violence just continues.

That gives the story an interesting angle. It’s less a battle between good and evil and more a tragic clash between two groups that don’t know each other. But the film never develops this theme far enough. The humans get little backstory, and the aliens remain mysterious. As a result, the message feels half-formed.

It also ends abruptly, with plenty left unresolved. Na has said he wrote a script for a sequel, so the story may continue.

Who Should Watch Hope

This is a strong pick for action fans, monster-movie lovers, and anyone who enjoys big-screen spectacle. Fans of Na’s earlier work will find his trademark intensity here, though Hope is more of a blockbuster than a slow-burn horror film like The Wailing.

If you hate weak visual effects or want a neat, satisfying ending, the final act may frustrate you.

The Verdict

Hope is a thrilling, ambitious, and often exhilarating monster epic. For two hours, it’s one of the best action films of the year. The last half hour, with its awkward CGI and muddled ideas, holds it back from greatness. Still, the stunts, the suspense, and the dark humor make it well worth a trip to a theater.

Rating: 3.5/5

Watch the Trailer

Quick Facts

• Title: Hope
• Writer/Director: Na Hong-jin
• Genre: Sci-Fi Monster Action Thriller
• Runtime: 2h 36m (156 minutes)
• Rated: R
• Language: Korean (the alien characters speak other languages)
• Starring: Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender
• Cinematographer: Hong Kyung-pyo
• Editor: Kim Sun-min
• Producers: Na Hong-jin, Kim Sae-mi, Kim Sae-rom
• Premiere: Cannes Film Festival 2026 (main competition), May 17
• Release dates: South Korea, July 15, 2026. US and Canada, September 9, 2026. UK, Ireland, and India, September 25, 2026.
• US distributor: NEON

Where to Watch

Hope opened in North American theaters on September 9, 2026, through NEON. It reached UK and Irish cinemas on September 25. No streaming or digital release date has been announced, so check local listings for any theaters still showing it.

Have you seen “Hope”? Share your thoughts in the comments below.