Hope (2026) Review
Monsters as a concept have always been socially constructed, a manifestation of things we can’t, or won’t, understand. In Na Hong-jin’s latest film, his first in a decade, people in a small rural town are surrounded by threats. Billboards remind them that North Korean spies could be anywhere; the threat of communism is constant, so they must stay vigilant. This worldview, where people distrust their neighbors and see the other as something to fear and destroy, is put to the test when aliens invade. But after the bumbling Chief of Police finds out what they really want, the film expands beyond the confines of a mere monster movie. With its nods to Korean geopolitics, its distrust in the police as a force for change, or even safety, and its nuanced villains, this is one of the most interesting blockbusters to have released in recent memory.
With this being touted as the most expensive Korean film ever produced, expectations were high but, for me, they were surpassed. I'm not going to mention the shoddy CGI, because it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of this film. Na and cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo lean into the visual elements of the genre, using intricate car rigs and ultra-stylish tracking shots to capture wildly dynamic action scenes. The choreography and timing required to pull off someone shooting a CGI alien from horseback moments before an explosion, all captured in a single take, is beyond impressive. Beneath the visual spectacle, though, is something very thoughtful.
Because these huge action sequences occur as we follow Police Chief Ko uncovering the mysterious destruction of his town, viewers feel locked into his perspective. This proximity shapes our interpretation of the aliens to match Ko’s: they are bloodthirsty, and they are dangerous. But as he leans out of the car to shoot what he believes is the last remaining one, there’s a moment where he and the alien lock eyes, and viewers can see tears running down its face. This moment becomes one of the most important in the film when Ko later learns that the alien was simply looking for its baby when the townspeople attacked it. Combined with the still camera used as a medical examiner tries increasingly savage ways to hack into the alien for an autopsy, it makes viewers question who’s actually the monster. Ko’s incompetence makes it even harder to believe the humans are the ‘good guys.’
From the second Ko starts to follow the aliens’ path of destruction, it becomes clear he’s no traditional action hero. He’s so scared he accidentally kills several people while trying to catch the monster, and it takes him almost half the film’s runtime to even see the alien. The townspeople are not only more well-armed, but more knowledgeable about the invasion. “He hasn’t seen the alien yet? What’s this moron been doing?” complains a citizen when Ko tries to join a civilian battalion. It takes several explosions, and a crashed 18-wheeler, to eventually kill one of the aliens, only for a someone to soon after tell the police that several more were recently spotted in the nearby forest. Establishing the police as constantly being under-informed, unprepared and overwhelmed enhances the film’s social commentary on the failure of institutions to address the urgent needs of citizens, but the aliens themselves are also a way of highlighting a specific aspect of Korean history and culture.
As we follow Officer Ko through the devastated avenues of his town, we constantly see signs warning the townspeople to ‘report possible spies’ from North Korea, to ‘defend the homeland!’ against the threat of communism. This introduces an important underlying theme of the film: how we treat the Other. In such an isolated rural town, people are already scared of the unknown; and that fear is compounded by the anti-communist propaganda that litters the roadsides. The aliens thus become a lens through which the film explores how fear and suspicion can ultimately turn us against ourselves and each other. As Officer Ko discovers, cycles of violence can only be broken when we become willing to question the narratives imposed by those in power.
There are a million things I could say about this film: the acting, the score, the way the camera moves through some of the craziest action sequences we’ve seen this decade. But what stood out to me most was the story, which is rare for a Sci-Fi blockbuster. What could have been a traditional small town vs aliens flick becomes, in the hands of Na and his crew, a wildly thought-provoking exploration of fear, violence, and resistance. It’s a filmic reminder of how propaganda can turn us into the monster we fear.
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