Hope is the name of the town in which this bizarre South Korean movie is set, and it has a very unwelcome visitor.
Their first clue is a big, dead boar dumped in the middle of the road, but with huge claw marks… What’s caused it? A tiger come down from the mountains, or something bigger?
And then it’s all going to hit the fan when in this absolute post-apocalyptic-style landscape, they discover a man’s severed arm. Plus, before the reveal comes, I was expecting it to be something of a size between a tiger and Godzilla!
Despite the film running a staggering 156 minutes, I wrote very few notes, since once you have the premise, you then just watch the characters play it out and see where it goes, but it’s safe to say that while the film was mostly centred around cop Bum-Seok (Hwang Jung-min – Narco-Saints), it’s at the 50-minute mark when we actually see what’s causing the calamity, and the film is joined by the arrival of female cop Officer Yim (Hoyeon – Disclaimer).
Hence, to avoid spoilers, I would say Hope has a brilliant first half, but the second half does rather drag, making for an overlong 156 minutes in the final cut. In fact, this film really needs 20-30 mins cutting out of it.
And when it comes to the visuals of the town – and despite the fact this is NOT a zombie movie, it also looks very much like how The Last Of Us on TV should’ve been, and there’s more action in this rather overlong movie, than the entire first two reasons of that awful pastiche of the videogame!
If you want a slight spoiler, then read what’s hidden here, but I’d recommend ONLY reading it once you’ve seen the film.
NOTE: There is a mid-credit scene, as per my video below.
Hope is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
However, you can buy the CD soundtrack or the Vinyl soundtrack, and I don’t think I’ve heard Donna Lewis’ I Love You Always Forever much in the intervening 30 years, but while it was played lot at the time, it does feel much better after it’s been given rather a break.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 156 minutes
Release date: September 25th 2026
Studio: MUBI
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (ARRIRAW (4.5K), Dolby Vision)
Rating: 6/10
Director: Na Hong-jin
Producers: Na Hong-jin, Saemi Kim, Saerom Kim
Writer: Na Hong-jin
Music: Michael Abels
Cast:
Bum-Seok: Hwang Jung-min
Sung Ki: Zo In-sung
Yim Sung Ae: Hoyeon
Ma’veyyo: Michael Fassbender
J’aur: Alicia Vikander
Va’migere: Cameron Britton
Yang Bae: Eum Moon-suk
Jim: Einar Haraldsson
Mr. Hae-sul: Im Hyun Shik
Ahn Nak-yeon: Lee Sang-hee
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.