Lead

"Hope," the new sci-fi thriller from "The Wailing" director Na Hong-jin, marks his return after a decade and is a peculiar spectacle in many ways. One of the priciest productions in Korean cinema history, the epic is billed as science fiction but is actually a mishmash of action, black comedy, and suspense that leaves audiences wondering what they have just seen after its dizzying 156-minute runtime, according to a review by Yonhap News.

The film follows local cops and villagers in the remote coastal town of Hopo—whose name apparently comes from the English word "hope"—as their lives are upended with the arrival of mysterious yet powerful creatures. Set in a pre-smartphone era, presumably in the 1980s, the story unfolds in the most analog environment: think horses, guns, and walkie-talkies.

Coverage Comparison

Two wire reports from Yonhap News provide complementary looks at the film. The first, published July 7, focuses on the director's stated intentions: Na said he turned to the vastness of space to show how small acts of tragedy and violence, even without ill intent, can spiral into catastrophe. The second, published July 10, is a review that emphasizes the film's genre-blending nature and its sensory spectacle, including breathtaking car chases and corny but amusing jokes.

Both reports agree on the film's basic premise: it is set in a pre-smartphone era, presumably in the 1970s or 80s (one report says 1970s or 80s, the other says 1980s), and follows local cops and villagers as they fight mysterious entities in a forlorn seaside town near the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone. The cast is star-studded, including Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon, as well as Hollywood actors Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. The film was invited to compete at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

The review in the second report offers a more detailed look at the film's plot: it begins with police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min), villager Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), and his crew examining a mutilated cow teeming with flies in the middle of a country road. The first hour races ahead at full speed as Bum-seok and surviving villagers track an unseen presence—is it a monster tiger, they wonder—only seen and heard through its roars, bloody footprints, and gruesome remains of slain villagers. Jung Ho-yeon's character, the headstrong yet good-hearted officer Sung-ae, injects fresh adrenaline into the mayhem through a series of car chases and straightforward lines.

Key Claims

  • "Hope" is a sci-fi thriller directed by Na Hong-jin, set in a pre-smartphone era, presumably in the 1980s (or 1970s-80s, per the wire reports).
  • The story follows local cops and villagers as they fight mysterious creatures in the remote coastal town of Hopo, whose name apparently comes from the English word "hope."
  • The cast includes Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, and Hollywood actors Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.
  • The film was invited to compete at the Cannes Film Festival.
  • The director's intention is to show how small acts of tragedy can spiral into catastrophe.
  • The film's final segment explores philosophical questions about humanity and hope.
  • Na Hong-jin wanted to create a thrill ride for the audience by maximizing the sounds and visuals in the film.

Director's Perspective

Na Hong-jin told reporters in a group interview that the film's central theme is the escalation of trivial acts into tragedy: "A person who provides the seed for the tragedy commits a very trivial act in a very small town and this movie follows how big this can become, how tremendously tragic situations can arise from the smallest things." He added, "And what the movie shows is the source of this wrongdoing may not necessarily be driven by malice."

To highlight this contrast, Na sets the film in a small and remote village. "Isolation carries an important meaning in the story," he said, when asked about the fictional harbor town of Hopo. "I wanted to tell a story that begins in a tiny, humble place. It is like a speck that gradually expands in a manner that cannot be contained and into a story of the entire universe."

Na previously delved into supernatural forces in his 2016 horror film "The Wailing," which follows how a rural town is affected by a mysterious outsider. He said he wanted to deepen this perspective by leaning into the presence of a greater being. "In 'The Wailing,' I used supernatural phenomena to build the story. I started wondering how I could deepen such a," he said, according to the report.

The latter part of the film moves out of the town into a vast forest and explores the dynamics between the extraterrestrial creatures and the villagers, eventually disclosing what prompted their arrival, the review notes.