WRITER & DIRECTOR
Na Hong-jin
The Wailing (Gokseong), The Yellow Sea (Hwanghae), The Chaser (Chugyeokja)

STARS
Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon and Eum Moon-suk


In 2006, South Korea produced a film many around the world considered to be one the best monster and horror movies of the 21st century. That film, The Host, from Oscar-winning Parasite director Bong Joon Ho, remains one of South Korea’s highest-grossing films and is regarded as a landmark of Korean cinema.

Though Hope lacks The Host’s consistency in overall quality and hasn’t gone quite as gangbusters at the box office in its homeland, it exhibits echoes of the creature feature mystique and earth & pulse-pounding production that The Host so effectively conjured all throughout. And so it ought to, considering Hope’s budget is reportedly larger than any previous Korean film!

One component the two films being mentioned are total opposites in, however, is their location; The Host’s monster wreaked havoc in the Korean capital while the unwelcome intruder causing escalating chaos and panic among locals in Hope is doing so in a fictionalised small village named Hope Harbour, set near the Korean Demilitarised Zone.

Hope Harbour needs a hero in a hurry. That saviour on a white horse, or rather careening in a 1983 Hyundai Stella, could be the local police chief, Bum-Seok (Hwang Jung-min) and his rookie officer, Sung-ae (Hoyeon). Like everyone else, they are rapidly trying to determine what animal, being or creature is responsible for killing many livestock, tearing through solid buildings as though they were manufactured from LEGO and claiming one human casualty after another in the midst of pursuing it.

Despite my earlier comment on Hope’s lack of consistency in overall quality, its extended build up to first revealing the menacing appearance and sheer power of its creature is five-star stuff. Initially, we are only privy to bite-sized pieces of the total devastation being left in its wake and the speculation from some local residents as to what could be causing the ‘leftovers’ they’re discovering. Taking into account Hope Harbour’s location, all possibilities pertaining to its original existence and life form; a monster from the peninsula, a creature that has emerged from beneath the ground, something from the sky or the forest that surrounds, are on the table. Audiences know as much as the characters we’ve so far crossed paths with do until Bum-Seok evidently begins to close in on the culprit and meets others who have seen what it is and witnessed its powerful capabilities. To this point and even for a while yet thereafter, Hope is increasingly tantalising, sometimes terrifying and always terrifically entertaining to experience. Just as Bong Joon Ho does in his best films, ambitious writer and director Na Hong-jin chronicles the carnage with an abundance of satirical humour throughout.

Throughout the second half of the picture, the central and sole plot expands and takes this story into a few different directions. While Hope remains an action-packed extravaganza and maintains its high-octane energy levels all throughout, there comes a time when repetition via its action sequences and its near three-hour duration can be felt. One development to transpire during the second half involving a surgeon who examines something that is found throughout is ultimately short-lived but offered the film intellectual variety it is otherwise missing. Nevertheless, further exciting developments that continue to broaden the menace its now revealed creature has compliment this film’s emphasis, which is bound to enrapture those who remain in awe of its mightily impressive overall production qualities. Where this movie might underwhelm or disappoint even its most spellbound fans, however, is during its later developments and revelations, which casts familiarity in place of the freshness given earlier and is too reminiscent of another globally popular movie I won’t name in this review.

These second-half imperfections are merely a heads-up for you to temper the adrenalin-filled and hair-raising excitement irrevocably induced by a pretty perfect first half. For those of you who do gravitate towards a creature feature, Hope indeed remains a film I highly recommend experiencing at the cinema.

Hope is showing in cinemas across Australia from September 10th, 2026.

Moviedoc thanks Madman for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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