Do you find yourself craving video games but either don’t have the time/patience/energy to sink into a console and game? Or do you just prefer to watch your favourite YouTuber rip through the new Call of Duty and watch them just absolutely annihilate the game? Or do you casually play, watch the odd video here and there, watch the missions your buddy tells you to watch, which is about a third of the way through the game, and give up after six hours of game play (about a third of a typical story of Call of Duty) and then just never know what happens in Black Ops III? If you’re any combination of these people, but more leaning towards the latter, then Na Hong-jin’s Hope (호프) is the right movie for you. It’s a popcorn thriller that throws you right into the action, takes nearly an hour of a two-and-a-half-hour movie to introduce you to the co-lead, and drops you right into the proverbial fire with a payoff that leaves you asking more questions than answers. Is it satisfying? No, but the entertainment value is certainly hard to ignore throughout this rip-roarious, confusing, monster movie.
A scene from HOPE. Photo courtesy of NEON.
Hope focuses on police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) as he is trying to figure out what on Earth is happening in his town after he gets a strange call from his cousin, Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), about a deceased animal in the middle of the road. Upon arriving, he’s convinced something clearly prayed on the animal, something they’ve never seen before, and he investigates. This is really the first hour of the movie: Bum-seokchasing the monster around town, and the sheer chaos that ensues throughout. The second story, which merges with the first hour of the film, focuses on Sung-ae (Hoyeon), who’s also a cop but with medical experience, as she’s also trying to control the situation with the monster and regain peace. To dive further into this, is to spoil the entirety of the movie and the twists and turns throughout the movie.
A scene from HOPE. Photo courtesy of NEON.
Na Hong-jin (The Wailing) not only directed, but also wrote the screenplay, which, unfortunately, feels more like a draft than a completed work. Our three characters are all underwritten and underutilized, there is no rhyme or reason as to why they’re motivated other than survival, their background, or how they got there. They just exist. It truly feels like this is the second installment of a trilogy that we never get to see the first or third part of, especially the ending which, in-world, makes sense, but, as an ending, is as aggravating and frustrating as the ending of The Golden Compass (2007) which ended in a blimp ride mid-conversation for a sequel that never came to fruition. Hope truly needed something to tie it all together, to have it make sense. Just being thrown into chapter 10 and ending at chapter 22 of a 30-chapter book is too frustrating to be forgiven, despite the fact that its shot gorgeously (the cinematography being one of the saving graces of the film).
The CGI, however, yields some of the most atrocious modern graphics that have been seen in a mainstream movie in a long time. The CGI here is reminiscent of The Mummy franchise, but in early 2000s, that was one thing; in 2026, this is unforgivable. The saving factor though, is the fact that *this is* just really bad CGI and not AI, so at least they hired real human beings to craft the monstrosities of the aliens and creatures, but they look so poorly conceived and constructed.
Na Hong-jin’s Hope is a rip-roarious popcorn flick that requires logic and the brain to be left at the door as there is no sense of logic throughout the film. The video-game-style shooting of Bum-seok running through town trying to avoid being monster chow while also trying to stop the destruction makes it almost impossible not to be entertained as it feels like we’re watching a Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto V mission play out.
A scene from HOPE. Photo courtesy of NEON.
Even when we do eventually see the creatures and our human characters interact with and engage with them, it is like watching a baby fight a giant because it is so absurdly ridiculous. These creatures are quite literally only being annoyed by the humans attacking them in that they’re being bothered, throwing them with sheer ease. A few moments are so over-the-top and ridiculous that, despite the several plot issues, it is hard not to at least be entertained by the sheer scale of chaos.
A scene from HOPE. Photo courtesy of NEON.
While every character is severely and detrimentally underwritten, the adventure is entertaining enough to have audiences engaged. The biggest crime that Hope commits, outside of the poorly named title, is that it comes in at over two and a half hours with consistent entertainment that becomes more of a chore as it goes on; it’s almost guaranteed that it would be better at 90 minutes. My only hope is that, if audiences ever get to explore this world again, there is, at least, more explanation of the characters to make sense of those mind-boggling final 20 minutes of the joyride.
Screening during Toronto International Film Festival 2026.
In theaters September 9th, 2026.
For more information, head either to the official Hope Toronto International Film Festival webpage or NEON webpage.
Final Score: 3 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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