'Hope' Review
Release Date: 09/09/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Action. Drama. Horror. Mystery. SciFi. Thriller.
MPAA: Rated R.
Distributor: Neon.
The Verdict: A Must-See
The first film in ten years from director Na Hong-jin (The Wailing, The Yellow Sea) is also reported as the most expensive movie from South Korea, and boy, is it a doozy. Just off the coast of the South Korean border, the small rural town of Hope Harbour is in for a rude awakening. Police Chief Seok investigates mangled cattle out in the harbour's fields, and it's only minutes before he, and the audience, are in for the ride of their life. Hope is very selective with the information it gives its audience until the final minute, and even then, it's still a big movie to wrap your head around.
Hope is a movie that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Unlike Na Hong-Jin's last film, this is a pedal-to-the-metal blockbuster, as opposed to his creeping horror masterpiece, The Wailing. From the first act, you're kept in the dark about what is destroying this town, and when it finally reveals its hand, it exposes a threat to the town's folk that's more cosmic than they expected. Through the film, we follow a different ensemble of characters. Outside of police chief Seok, his cousin Sung Ki, and police comrade Sung Ae, they all search their hometown for answers on what the threat is and how to defeat it.
You also have an interesting list of mo-cap actors behind the monsters, including Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton. The performances are good for the most part, but the CGI doesn't blend well when it's on screen for long, not to mention the running effect, which I sadly found goofy for the most part. However, what Hope has for dodgy digital effects, it makes up for in its sheer audacity and spectacle. Countless set pieces here are worth the price of admission alone, but a few other frustrations are hard to ignore.
As I said, this film is very selective with its information, and what we get isn't all that satisfying, especially toward the film's closing, where it grows bigger and bigger… and then it just ends. Now, I'm not one to mind an abrupt ending, but I'm still not exactly sure what the point is. Not to mention the 2h 40m runtime, which I will say could definitely have been tightened up.
However, whatever my hangup about this film is, Hope is a fun-as-hell ride that I recommend anyone take. You may walk away even more frustrated than I did, or even disappointed. However, for those wanting to go toe-to-toe with what Hope has to throw down, you're in for an exhausting sci-fi blockbuster.
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