Spoiler Alert: “Hope” is Ridiculous (In a Good Way!)

Watching “Hope,” directed by celebrated South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin, was perhaps one of the most baffling, fascinating, and entertaining theatrical experiences I’ve had in a long time. The film is a mix of clashing ideas and gory chaos that promptly disproved my concern that I wouldn’t have a lot to say about it — and never have I been more glad about that.
Going in, all I knew about “Hope” was that it was vaguely an action movie — as that’s among my least favorite genres, this wasn’t a prospect I was particularly looking forward to. But immediately this film revealed itself to be a particular brand of action I have a soft spot for: a group of ragtag, often incompetent, humans facing off against a practically unstoppable force. (Think “The Birds,” or the first “Terminator,” both of which I have been flamed for enjoying.)
And in the vein of those movies, “Hope” starts slow. While touring the eponymous town, we catch glimpses of the monster’s path: a cow gored with a massive set of claws, a mangled arm hanging from a tree, and a gaping hole torn through a building. But we don’t get so much as a look at the thing, even as Hope Harbor’s intrepid police chief Beom-Seok (Hwang Jung-min), shoots round after round at it. Only 45 minutes in do we briefly catch a shadow of a claw.
This mounting dread and delayed reveal play at the real meat of the trope: the horror of the unseen and the tendency of visual media to let audiences’ imaginations fill in the gaps by avoiding showing the monster’s face. By doing this, our own primitive fears take over as we subconsciously imagine what nightmare could be lurking beyond the camera’s scope. And conversely, the suspense that makes the first third of the movie so gripping is immediately nullified when we do, inevitably, see the monster. Each scene with the revealed monster(s) generally falls back into the more traditional action formula.
This isn’t to say the film became boring — in fact, this allows many other technical aspects to shine. The color grading, for example, is as vibrant as you could ask for from the 2020s, whose films have so often fallen into dull, washed-out tones. The sets are fantastic, especially the gloriously demolished ones used to show the aftermath of the monster’s rampage through Hope Harbor. And the impressive performances of the lead actors Hwang and Jung Ho-yeon carry the action sequences. The latter, who plays another cop in the force, delivers what is probably my favorite performance in the movie (and the only one with even a suggestion of a character arc). The action scenes are where Hoyeon really shines, so much so that it’s hard to believe her stoic, Western-inspired introduction and her uncontrolled panic in the final scenes are from the same movie.
It’s in the third act of the movie where the narrative twists in the most staggering ways. The dread and slow-building tension (what I personally found the most engaging) are all but gone; as more enemies creep in, they’re no longer obscured to the audience but are now shown in full, detailed view.
The issue: for what is apparently the most expensive South Korean movie ever produced, the CGI leaves very, very much to be desired (reminiscent of a 2000s video game cutscene). It certainly wouldn’t be as problematic if the monsters didn’t dominate the film’s final hour, especially the last twenty minutes. It’s a shift in scope that could have, on its own, spanned an entire trilogy. This first movie, for example, might have been stronger had it only focused on combating and familiarizing ourselves with just the one monster. But this clearly wasn’t the vision of director Na Hong-jin — by the end of the movie, the scope has somehow widened to cosmic proportions. Yet, almost paradoxically, the narrative dares to tease a sequel, making a viewer wonder: what could they possibly introduce next?
This isn’t to say the entire movie is frenzied, grisly action. It’s suffused with a surprising amount of humor (like the absurd amount of guns and ammunition in this small town), which got some significant laughs from my screening’s small crowd. And, it obviously takes a backseat compared to the outrageous action and stunts (e.g. a fifteen-minute sequence where multiple characters try to shoot the pursuing monster while dangling out of a speeding car). However, there is a lot to be said about the film’s messaging: the monsters are treated with more sympathy than one might expect, begging the question of whether they’re truly as hostile as the people of Hope Harbor believe. This choice, combined with the torn-apart sign at the beginning — “Protect the nation from infiltration” — brings themes of immigration and xenophobia close to the forefront. But, again, Na very clearly preferred placing the monster-chase center stage — and if the aforementioned themes are ever going to be fully examined, it’ll be in that planned sequel.
There are clearly many more things to be said about “Hope,” just as there are many aspects of the world Na still wishes to explore. Some, turned off by the narrative’s sudden shift, might be reluctant to see the following movies, but I think the film is worth an honest shot. I especially encourage those who think going to the movies is “boring” in any way to try their luck — because, for everything “Hope” is, it’s certainly never boring.