Where do you even begin with Na Hong-jin’s Hope? It is sort of unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before, which is impressive to pull off in today’s massive entertainment landscape. Over the course of 2 hours and 36 minutes, Hope is one continuous blockbuster force that is entirely pedal to the metal in a way that is best described as similar to Mad Max: Fury Road, yet far more bizarre than Fury Road could ever be. The film’s structure is rather one long stretch that builds into further chaos with characters that don’t necessarily undergo any pivotal changes, alongside bizarre tonal shifts that miraculously work so well in such a dire situation to create several comedic moments. As I continue to think and write about Hope, it is a film that just will not get out of my head, and I am more enamored with it than anything else. Leaving the theater once the credits had rolled made me want to instantly turn around and relive what I had just witnessed.

Hope is one of 2026’s greatest pieces of entertainment to exist, and I would say it is the most captivating thing I have witnessed so far. How do you describe this film? It feels uncontrollable almost, as if Na Hong-jin wrote and directed it, but in the final edit, it became sentient and assembled itself. I think what makes me most gripped by its story and the changes that come to fruition by the end is just how it does not have some conventional feel to it, nor does it abide by the “rules” of cinema. It is its own masterpiece. What do you even compare Hope to? It’s a mashup of Nope and Mad Max: Fury Road, with some Spielberg sprinkled in, I guess? Whatever you get out of Hope, there’s one thing that is purely undeniable: it is bold. This film is confident, and it does not care what you or anyone else thinks about whether you love it or hate it. The film begins by thrusting the audience into things quite quickly, and you better be strapped in and ready for what it is going to show you. The first hour of this film might be my favorite moment in theaters so far this year. Through immediate intrigue and a build on the mystery, shit hits the fan at 100 MPH, thrusting our characters into brutal situations they could never anticipate.

The discovery prompting one of the main characters, police chief Beom Seok, to slam on his brakes as he races through the town of Hope Harbor is the first tone setter for the destructive path the aliens are capable of. Seok looks out of the window to discover a building with a hole straight through to the other side. From here, everything escalates rapidly, leading to dozens of dead bodies and others in the town taking up arms to fight back. The battle that takes place in Hope Harbor is truly given some weight and impact as the alien, described as a monster, annihilates everything and everyone seemingly with no clear reason. Those fighting back are crushed by cars, killed by objects being thrown at them, or even killed by other humans being used as weapons. The other police officer, Sung Ae, shows up in a badass presentation, armed to the teeth with a fully automatic M16 assault rifle and a grenade launcher. She and Seok are then thrust into a full-on chase sequence with the alien as Sung Ae absolutely drives the hell out of the Hyundai Stellar through the town while Seok fires repeatedly out of the passenger window, which is just absolutely gripping to watch. The actress who plays Sung Ae spent six months training with weapons and vehicles for this role, which is very apparent on screen as it adds to the authenticity of the badass character when the camera is placed on her whipping around corners and small roads on top of her weapons handling.

Hope becomes a bit of a different experience in the second half and instead presents a whole new angle on the alien visitor’s rampage. After the discovery that led Beom Seok to find one of the residents in Hope Harbor holding onto one of the youngling aliens, the film changes who the victims truly are and the intentions set forth in ways that play more into the film’s title outside of the town of Hope Harbor. During this time, Sung Ae is tending to a patient in the small, overrun hospital filled with injured people, which is where Na Hong-jin is so interestingly able to balance the tone of this film. The old injured man tells her he and some buddies were hunting in the woods and that he needed to go shit, which continues to delve further into him mentioning he had diarrhea and felt in his pants to see if the smell was him. He is then shown touching his face, along with shoving his middle finger up his ass and clenching so he would not make any noise and be spotted. There are several moments like this sprinkled throughout, which make for this unconventional form of storytelling in something so tense with massive ramifications taking place as perspectives on who we, as the audience, are seeing continue to shift. In this moment, the old man reveals to Sung Ae that there are more than one of these monsters, which is a devastating unveiling to these characters given the death and destruction simply one of them caused.

After a first half of running through the small harbor town with full-blown action, destruction, and electric car chases, the focus shifts more toward the group of characters who ventured into the woods looking for more answers. This leads to finding the other aliens and their ship, giving way to another gorgeous action set piece for Hong-jin to work his magic with as the transition from car chases now becomes horseback, which is just so damn cool in this as well. All of these scenes had me in awe in unspeakable ways because of how great this film looks through its sound design and choreography. The camera moving with the characters is like watching a ballet dancer move around, and you never feel bored throughout this entire film because it has just been slamming you with fun, creative filmmaking.

One of the obvious sore-thumb aspects of Hope is its reliance on CGI for the aliens, which don’t always look great. Yeah, they look like a video game sometimes and can take you out of the movie, but it never annoyed me or took me out of the film much at all. When you as a filmmaker create and capture such a blockbuster spectacle as this, those cheap-looking effects are secondary to what you enjoy and, to me, did not diminish my viewing experience. Hope is South Korea’s most expensive film to date at $46 million, which, for a film such as this with massive set locations and overall massive sequences taking place all over, is a rather impressive use of $46 million. There are Netflix films with budgets well over $150 million that look like hot dogshit throughout the entire film. Remember The Gray Man with Ryan Gosling, directed by the Russo brothers? It is just atrocious from beginning to end. That had a budget of $200 million, so for some CGI to look bad in Hope yet achieve the massive heights it does through sheer ambition, care, and talent, it does not bother me because you can tell everyone who worked on this dedicated so much passion.

I think Hope and Na Hong-jin’s final product is a presentation built behind a truly fearless, eccentric, and striking passion very few would be able to achieve on this level. Every minute that goes by makes you want more and more because you are watching something that feels so otherworldly. The structure in this film is not like most, as it really does not follow any of the conventional three- or five-act structures. It’s rather a two-act structure in a way, given the shift once certain information is revealed. The ending does stand on its own if you are a creative person who enjoys using your brain, but it is rather sudden and leaves the potential for a sequel. The characters do not really achieve any arcs at all either, although they are still mostly all really enjoyable. Given the potential ideas for a sequel, I can certainly see it happening, as this film simply feels like it could absolutely give me three more hours of high-octane crazy shit to watch. But even with how it stands now, I love this film so much.

Hope is this bizarre, messy masterpiece that I cannot stop thinking about. I could understand others not liking it; however, I think this is one of 2026’s best films and one that will rise in popularity as time goes on. Hope is one of the few films that comes along and makes you want to pick up a camera, gather some friends, and begin creating something of your own because you feel so inspired, which is why I recommend Hope so heavily.