Thoughts on Hope

     At the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn, I saw Hope, a 2026 South Korean science fiction action film written and directed by Na Hong-jin. The film centers on the citizens of a small village named Hope Harbor, which is close to the border of North Korea, or the DMZ, who are being attacked by mysterious creatures and fighting back with lots of ammunition.

    The film focuses on a few characters as they are fighting against the creatures: Ko Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min), the police chief, who is racing through the town trying to figure out what's going on; Ko Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), one of a group of hunters who are being hunted themselves in the mountains; and Im Sung-ae (Jung Ho-yeon), a rookie cop who is more capable than other cops and fires back at the creatures. As people are discovering the destruction of the town and the rotting corpses of cows, they initially think a tiger from the mountains killed the cows before finding the town's wreckage and realizing it's something much bigger, before seeing cars being thrown airborne and crushing people from a distance.

    The movie works well because it combines a lot of action and humor, and running gags like Ko Bum-seok being shocked at the heavy artillery that the elderly residents have and being like "How did you get all of this?" and they go, "That's not important right now." Or an inept younger guy is impressed at Ko Sung-ki's horseback riding skills during a chase sequence and is like, "How does he know how to ride so well?" An elderly local, Mr. Hae-sul (Im Hyun-sik) tells a story about hiding from the monsters while trying to keep from pooping in a bush and holding it in so hard ("the hardest I've ever clenched") that even Im Sung-ae laughs when she is trying to take his testimony because it's so bittersweet and funny.

    The action sequences are really fantastic, especially a couple of intense chase sequences that combine a lot of impressive stunt work with cars, horses, and people, and none that I want to spoil right now.

    The downside to the film is the CGI of the creatures, especially when there is a lot of build-up to the first one. The design looks good, but once they move more, they look more pasted into the film, and it's hard to believe them as part of the story when they aren't blended in as well. Some later CGI characters look okay, it's just a flaw of the film, as well as the last few minutes, that adds in some lore about the creatures that feels way too late to add at the end of a two hour and forty minute movie.

    I enjoyed this film as a funny monster movie with a variety of likable characters to root for, and felt it stood out well for its stunt work and character development.