Korean director Na Hong-jin delivers an uproarious sci-fi action thriller with Hope, a film that blends digital effects with old-school analogue entertainment. The movie, which premiered at the Cannes film festival, offers a spectacle reminiscent of Spielberg and Walter Hill, with cheeky nods to another unspecified franchise.
Set in the remote retirees' town of Hope near the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the story begins when a farm animal is found killed and mangled by an unidentified beast. Careworn police chief Beom-seok (Hwang Jung-min) arrives at the scene, exchanging testy remarks with local hunters who speculate about a tiger. In a significant moment, Beom-seok removes his aviator sunglasses for a better look at the clawed carcass, never to put them on again, signalling his transformation from detached professional to warrior.
The film quickly becomes a gonzo melee of car-chasing and alien-beast-battling craziness, with characters inexhaustibly running, shouting defiantly at the alien, and executing juicy U-turns. After a nonstop first hour, the action pauses briefly before resuming. Beom-seok is joined by gutsy rookie cop Sung-ae (Jung Ho-yeon, from Netflix's Squid Game) and fiery local Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), who in the final wacky stunt hangs out of a speeding cop car to shoot the creature.
Na ingeniously reveals that monsters have feelings too, suggesting that the locals' desensitised aggression towards the existential outsider may have caused the problems. Opinions may be divided on the third-act reveal and a sense of deja vu about the monster's appearance, but the film offers top-quality entertainment that will intensify the world's K-obsession.
