Hope (Korean: 호프) is a 2026 South Korean epic science fiction action thriller film written, directed, and co-produced by Na Hong-jin. Featuring the ensemble cast included Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, and Michael Fassbender, the film centers on a village police chief and his rookie deputy who must defend his local community from a mysterious creature after wildfires sever all communications, while a local hunting party finds itself being hunted deep in the mountains.
Hope had its world premiere in the main competition of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2026, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. It was released theatrically by Plus M Entertainment in South Korea on July 15. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.
Contents
Plot
Ko Bum-seok is the police chief of Hope Harbor, a small village near the Korean Demilitarized Zone inhabited mostly by elderly people. His second cousin, Ko Sung-ki, asks him to investigate a dead cow with gaping wounds. Sung-ki and his fellow hunters claim that a stray tiger killed it, but later discover more dead cattle and the farm owner. When Bum-seok returns to Hope Harbor, he finds that a large monster has massacred several townspeople. With reinforcements unavailable because of wildfires elsewhere, he joins retired colonel Ahn Nak-yeon in pursuing it, but they accidentally shoot and seriously injure a chef.
Bum-seok continues alone and joins a local militia, only to discover that the monster is an intelligent, seemingly indestructible humanoid. After it massacres the militia, rookie police officer Im Sung-ae rescues Bum-seok using grenade launchers she had ransacked. Sung-ae severs one of the monster's legs, and they pursue it by car. Bum-seok hesitates to shoot after noticing it crying, but the monster is accidentally run over and killed by a tanker.
Afterwards, Bum-seok assists a surgeon in examining the corpse, who finds several similarities to the human body. At police headquarters, Bum-seok and Nak-yeon meet eccentric hunter and aspiring carpenter Yang-bae, who claims to have killed another monster. Although Bum-seok doubts his account, they accompany him to inspect the body in his freezer. Meanwhile, Sung-ae treats the wounded at a makeshift hospital and interviews Mr Hae-sul, who claims to have seen several monsters while hunting. Fearing that more remain, Sung-ae goes to warn Bum-seok.
Yang-bae's corpse proves to be a monster infant named Xinertai. Bum-seok concludes that the adult monster was searching for its child and angrily blames Yang-bae for inadvertently causing the disaster. Authorities then take the infant monster's corpse away. Sung-ae arrives with her findings, prompting the group to realise that Sung-ki may be in danger. Bum-seok, Nak-yeon, Sung-ae and Yang-bae set out to warn him.
Meanwhile, Sung-ki and his fellow hunters discover a crashed spaceship in the forest and realise that the monsters are aliens. Inside, they find a section where the young are kept, but are ambushed by the alien Empress J'aur and her subordinates, Ma'veyyo and Ai'dovor. The aliens kill everyone except Sung-ki, who escapes Ma'veyyo, only to be rescued by heavily armed local union members, who are also slaughtered. Bum-seok's group arrives, allowing Sung-ki to flee on horseback.
Cast
Hwang Jung-min as Ko Bum-seok, the police chief of Hope Harbor
Zo In-sung as Ko Sung-ki, a headstrong local who tracks a dangerous creature
Jung Ho-yeon as Im Sung-ae, a rookie cop under Hope's police force
Michael Fassbender as Ma'veyyo, an alien warrior/bodyguard
Alicia Vikander as J'aur, the aliens' Empress
Taylor Russell as Ai'dovor, one of the creatures and J'aur's subordinate
Cameron Britton as Va'migere, the first alien who demolished town
Eum Moon-suk as Yang-bae, an offbeat carpenter
Lee Sang-hee as Ahn Nak-yeon, a retired colonel
Im Hyun-sik as Mr. Hae-sul, an elderly local
Production
Development
Writer and director Na Hong-jin was reportedly originally collaborating on the project with Alfonso Cuarón. It is Na Hong-jin's first since The Wailing in 2016. He has described how the film developed from an idea he had in 2017 or 2018 of a single image that came to him whilst eating in a restaurant. It is produced by Forged Films, with Plus M Entertainment handling international sales. Cinematography is by Hong Kyung-pyo who previously collaborated with Na on The Wailing. The budget for the film was reportedly higher than any previous Korean film.
Casting
The main cast includes Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, as well as Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender, who do not speak Korean in the film. It marks the first on-screen collaboration for real-life married couple Vikander and Fassbender since the 2016 film The Light Between Oceans. In April 2023, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton joined the main cast. The final cast includes Eum Moon-suk, Lee Sang-hee, and Im Hyun-sik in supporting roles. Although Um Tae-goo and Lee Kyu-hyung were initially reported to be cast in May 2023, they do not appear in the final production and are absent from all official promotional materials and release credits.
Filming
Principal photography took place in 2023 in Bukpyeong-myeon. Filming locations included Namchang in Haenam County. Filming also took place in Romania in the area around the Retezat Mountains. A sequence shot with natural daylight involving a horse riding through a forest was filmed in Retezat National Park. Vikander and Russell had completed their filming block by July 2024.
Release
Hope had its world premiere at the main competition of the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2026, marking the first South Korean film to compete for the Palme d'Or since Decision to Leave (2022). The selection makes it the fourth film by director Na Hong-jin to be screened at the festival, following The Chaser (2008) in Midnight Screenings, The Yellow Sea (2011) in Un Certain Regard section, and The Wailing (2016) in the Out of Competition section.
Hope is slated for a July 15, 2026 release in South Korea. Neon scheduled its theatrical release in the United States for September 9, and also acquired distribution rights for other English-speaking territories. In May 2026, Mubi acquired distribution rights in Latin America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Turkey. Later that month, it was reported that Hope had pre-sold to 200 territories worldwide; among the buyers disclosed were Focus Features, which bought rights for France, the Benelux and South Africa, as well as Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, which acquired the film for Portugal, Scandinavia, Iceland, the Middle East and Israel.
Upon its release in North America on September 9, 2026, the film grossed $1.1 million on its opening day, ranking second at the box office behind The Odyssey.
The film had its North American Premiere in the Centerpiece Presentation section of the 25th New York Asian Film Festival on 20 July 2026. It had its UK Premiere at the 79th Edinburgh International Film Festival on 16 August 2026.
Reception
Box office
On its opening weekend, Hope had 1.5 million admissions in South Korea, grossing $11.3 million at the box office, topping Minions & Monsters debut weekend ($2.1 million) and Moana second weekend ($1.2 million). By 2 August 2026, the film had grossed $31.1 million at the local box office.
Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 147 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website’s consensus reads: "An unhinged sci-fi epic that boasts awe-inspiring production design and amusingly quaint visual effects, Na Hong-jin's Hope gets the adrenaline pumping whenever it focuses on the unraveling of its hapless human heroes." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Nicholas Barber from BBC gave the movie four out of five stars.