I’m not entirely sure what director Na Hong-jin was trying to do with this alien invasion-themed action-horror fest, but he doesn’t appear to have succeeded. I’ll give HOPE (Hopeu; 2026) a muted recommendation, as it’s nothing if not diverting, while acknowledging that it could have been much more.
Na Hong-jin is, as of 2026, South Korea’s top filmmaker, having made the enormously successful films THE YELLOW SEA (Hwanghae; 2010) and THE WAILING (Gokseong; 2016). For HOPE he was given a very generous budget—it being, in fact, the most expensive Korean film of all time—and the participation of Hollywood stars, in the form of real-life couple Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander (never mind that both take the form of CGI aliens, with their voices being the sole identifying elements), in addition to Taylor Russell (BONES AND ALL) and Cameron Britton (MINDHUNTERS).
The lead actor is Korean superstar Hwang Jung-min, who plays Beom Seok, a police chief summoned to the rural Hope Valley by hunters who’ve found a bizarrely mutilated cattle carcass in the middle of a road. Further investigation reveals a depleted town packed with bloodied corpses and a seemingly insane codger (Im Hyun Shik) who blathers about “A freaking huge monster” that “Looks like a mush of peas and beans.”
It takes until the 49 minute mark for that monster, a vaguely humanoid ten foot monstrosity, to make its debut appearance. There follows a lengthy chase through the deserted town by Beom and officer Sung Ae (Hoyeon), who pursue and get pursued by the monster, which ends up crushed under the wheels of a passing truck. The setting then shifts to the forest above the town, where more alien critters are afoot and a crashed spaceship dots the landscape, and the action boils down to a battle with an especially nasty Fassbender played alien and its Vikander played superior, who precipitate another maga-chase, this one on a mountain highway.
This film unquestionably works quite well as an action-fest. The proceedings are fast and furious, with skillfully rendered car chases and gravity-defying skirmishes carried off with a great deal of propulsive energy. HOPE fails, alas, as science fiction—with copious CGI effects that are, frankly, lousy—and also as horror, with the strikingly ominous and atmospheric opening scenes giving way to surface-level kineticism.
The film’s biggest problem is that it’s uneven (an inevitability given the 160 minute runtime). The early scenes set in the desiccated town are vastly superior to the forest-set later ones, featuring an inexplicable last-minute viewpoint shift from the humans to the aliens, who carry on a private convo with language and references incomprehensible to the viewer (“In the name of Gh’ertu”). Inserted, presumably, to give Fassbender and Vikander something to do outside running and chasing, that convo, together with a climactic crashing spaceship (of which we’ve already seen one), is a needlessly confusing addition. The final shot, for its part, seems designed to set up the inevitable sequel, which I expect won’t be long in appearing.
Vital Statistics
HOPE (Hopeu)
Forged Films/Westworld/Plus M Entertainment
Director/Screenplay: Na Hong-jin
Producers: Na Hong-jin, Saemi Kim, Saerom Kim
Cinematography: Hong Kyung-pyo
Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Zi In-sung, Hoyeon, Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Eum Moon-suk, Im Hyun Shik, Lee Sang-hee, Agung Bagus