Hope (2026)
Director: Na Hong-jin
Screenplay: Na Hong-jin
Stars: Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Ko Bum-seok is the Chief of Police for the small town of Hope Harbor. Ko drives to the outskirts of town to meet with a group of hunters. They found a badly mutilated cow carcass. Whatever killed the bovine had great strength and huge claws. The hunters are concerned. They speculate that it could have been a bear… or a tiger. Whatever killed the cow is dangerous and needs to be captured or killed before it gets into town. Concerns rise when more dead and mutilated livestock are found.
Ko radios for back-up but most of the force is off fighting wild fires. Ko heads into town to alert the townfolk. The hunters continue deeper into the woods to see if they can pick up the beast’s trail.
When Ko gets to Hope Harbor he finds a path of destruction. Something is killing everyone in its way. The trail is easy to follow due to dead bodies and destroyed building walls. Ko is alone, with no back-up. He’s scared but pushes on.
Meanwhile the hunters move deeper into the forest.
Neither Ko or the hunters are prepared for what they will find. No one could be.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Although it is never specifically mentioned, the film is set in the 1980s. Writer/director Na Hong-jin used this time period to increase the isolation of the characters. No cell phones or internet. It is much harder to reach out for additional suppport once phone lines are down.
The promotion for Hope (trailers and posters) got my interest early on. I loved that there was a mystery to what was actually happening. This carries over to a good section of the movie. The characters, like the audience want to know what is causing the damage. And then when we find out — whew!
There is a nice mix of humor, action and mystery. Na Hong-jin is not afraid to show that his characters have fear. Their fear causes misteps, accidents and unheroic actions. Yet these situations are caused by bravery and heroics despite fear. It’s not often we see set-ups like these in action films.
Na Hong-jin wastes no time setting up the mystery and then getting to the action.
I like Hope. A lot. There are just three small nits I would pick.
- The ending seemed abrupt. The final scenes are a great set-up for a sequel but I would have liked a bit more closure for Hope.
- Something happens near the end of the movie. It’s a big moment. Then in a mid-credits scene, the big moment is negated. It felt like a cheat. Was the intent to shock the audience and then say, “Not really.” Or was the plan to **** spoiler alert**** really kill the character, but test screenings changed that idea? The mid-credits scene fixed that.
- In some of the battles, characters survive things that should have killed them. They came out with no or very superficial injuries. The stakes could have been raised if there were more negative/serious outcomes.
Hats off to Na Hong-jin. Hope is a winner. I, er, hope we get to see more in this universe.
Hope (2026) rates 4 of 5 stars.
