THE STORY – In the remote South Korean village of Hope Harbor, police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung- min) and officer Sung-ae (Hoyeon) are called to find a mysterious creature that has wreaked havoc on the village. In the nearby forest, a coterie of hunters, including Sung- ki (Zo In-Sung) set out to track the beast and find themselves hunted instead. But all is not as it seems, and perceptions can be misleading. What begins as ignorance plants the seed of disaster, escalating through human conflict into a tragedy of cosmic proportions.
THE CAST – Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, Cameron Britton & Taylor Russell
THE TEAM – Na Hong-jin (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 160 Minutes
Whether it was the dread of “The Chaser,” the bleak brutality of “The Yellow Sea,” or the feverish descent into the supernatural of “The Wailing,” South Korean director Na Hong-jin has always understood how to pull audiences into his vision before violently ripping the rug right out from underneath them. So after nearly a decade away from feature filmmaking, expectations surrounding his return to the big screen since 2016’s “The Wailing” with “Hope” were understandably sky-high. The result is perhaps his most ambitious work yet: a gigantic, completely unhinged action film unlike anything else in his filmography that feels like a cross between Bong Joon-Ho’s “The Host” and George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.” It’s overstuffed, occasionally ridiculous, and entirely exhausting. It also kicks an unbelievable amount of ass. For Na, this project feels like a natural extension of ideas he explored in “The Wailing,” a film that wrestled with ignorance, misunderstanding, fear of outsiders, and invasion. Here, he pushes those anxieties onto a larger and stranger canvas while still holding onto the dark humor, rural setting, and ordinary people trapped in extraordinary circumstances that have always defined his work.
Set in the remote harbor town of Hope Harbor near the heavily fortified Korean DMZ, “Hope” begins with a local mystery as a mutilated cow is found lying in the middle of a road surrounded by landmines, its body torn apart by claw marks far larger than anything resembling a bear or tiger. Police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) is one of the few authority figures remaining in town while much of local law enforcement has been diverted to nearby wildfire efforts. Expecting an uneventful day, Bum-seok instead finds himself working alongside his cousin Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), a headstrong local tracker who, with several other armed residents, decide to hunt whatever creature killed the cow in the surrounding wilderness. Hope Harbor appears to be a town permanently prepared for disaster. Guns are plentiful, warning signs line the roads, and paranoia hangs over everyday life. One sign reading “Protect The Nation From Infiltration” eventually takes on an entirely different meaning as the mysterious creature that attacked the cow turns its eye toward Hope and begins wreaking havoc, leaving the town in total devastation with many casualties along the way.
Na Hong-jin’s “Hope” is an absolutely balls-to-the-walls, insane, adrenaline-pumping thrill ride from the moment it starts for its first hour before taking a bit of a rest and then roaring back with another thrilling action set piece for its final third. Rather than immediately revealing the source of the terror, Na wisely focuses on the ruinous aftermath and atmosphere: mutilated bodies, collapsed structures, overturned vehicles, and long stretches of Bum-seok traveling through Hope Harbor on foot or in his police car, trying to find the creature and put an end to the carnage. The scale here is enormous, and much of it stems from Na’s insistence on real locations and tangible destruction. Hope Harbor feels like an actual, lived-in place, from its narrow streets and weathered storefronts to the surrounding forests and highways that eventually become battlegrounds for our characters as they fight for survival. Even at its most absurd, “Hope” never entirely loses its tactile sense of reality. For a reported $30 million budget, it frequently looks better than many modern-day blockbusters costing three times as much.
A huge reason for that is Na’s continued partnership with cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo (“Burning” and “Parasite“). Reuniting after “The Wailing,” Hong shoots nearly the entire film in broad daylight, which feels like a bold choice for blockbuster material this creature-heavy. Rather than allowing shadows and darkness to hide imperfections, the camera is often placed right in the middle of the chaos, using wide lenses and frantic movement to immerse the viewer and make the experience feel as real as possible. It gives the film an energizing sensation rarely felt in other blockbusters today. Na understands something many filmmakers tend to forget: audiences will forgive imperfect visual effects when the filmmaking itself remains thrilling. And when “Hope” thrills, it really, really thrills.
By withholding the creature at first, Na traps us alongside Bum-seok as he repeatedly tries to summon the courage to confront something far beyond his understanding. Bum-seok isn’t some traditional action hero but rather a man completely overwhelmed by the horrors of the moment, even if he feels a sense of duty to defend the people of Hope. Thankfully, he’s joined by rookie officer Sung-ae (Jung Ho-yeon), who quickly enters the film as one of its most consistently entertaining presences. Fearless, armed with some heavy duty firepower, and seemingly possessing better instincts than everyone around her, she is easily the character who is most immediately worth rooting for.
While the first act of “Hope” should rightfully be praised for how Na holds back on showing the creature, once he finally does, the reaction might be a bit confounding at first. The overall creature design can feel slightly underwhelming, and given the not-so-high price tag for the visual effects, they can take some getting used to (Wait until you find out which big-name actors did motion-capture work for the creatures). If you’re willing to roll with the punches, though, and make the transition from action-horror to action-science fiction, the finale contains some of the most exciting filmmaking Na has ever attempted. A chase sequence involving horses and a police car recalls the relentless pacing of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” driven by an emphasis practical effects and stunt work, kinetic camera movements, thunderous sound design, and Michael Abels’ propulsive score, which pushes everything a step further and turns the action into an exhilarating crowd-pleaser.
Despite all the praise, and as someone who desperately needed a jolt at this stage of the Cannes Film Festival, “Hope” is perhaps Na’s most undisciplined film. The middle portion noticeably slows down, giving the audience a breather, but once the creature’s true nature and the type of film the audience is actually watching are revealed, it gets even sillier and more unwieldy. There’s a gross autopsy sequence that’s a lot of fun but goes on far too long, bizarre tonal detours, especially one involving a serious piece of exposition backed by a case of diarrhea, and an increasing emphasis on sequel baiting. The deeper the film moves into explaining its mythology, most of which takes place in the third act, the more the movie as a whole starts to wobble. More problematic is the dialogue itself. Characters repeatedly scream, curse, argue, and debate decisions, making the scenes feel repetitive. At nearly 160 minutes, those conversations eventually wear down some of the momentum Na built up so masterfully in the first hour.
“Hope” notably lacks characterization, as the characters function more as archetypes than fully developed individuals with backstories or specific wants beyond staying alive. Even with these shortcomings, I found myself constantly on the edge of my seat, desperate for the intensity to continue, because when Na is firing up all the burners, he’s cooking with gasoline. Just when the film seems ready to conclude, Na reveals that this heavy R-rated blockbuster is only the beginning, planting the seeds for a sequel that may or may not be as interesting, fun, or wild as this, considering half the fun of watching “Hope” is going into it as blindly as you possibly can. But if it means we get more action set pieces from Na like the ones found in this movie, I won’t be complaining. For those who stayed through the Cannes world premiere screening and didn’t walk out early, audience reactions throughout the film and during the mid-credits scene suggest many are willing to follow Na wherever he decides to take us next in this new world he’s created. A non-stop spectacle unlike any other. I hoped it would be awesome, and somehow, against all odds, I’m ready for more.
