Na Hong-jin’s ‘Hope’ Sets September 9 Release Date via Neon

Neon has set a North American release date for Na Hong-Jin’s Cannes “Hope,” which will arrive in theaters on Wednesday, September 9. The film premiered In Competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, where it quickly emerged as one of my favorites (I’ll post my ten best of the fest this week).

The action-sci-fi, set in the remote village of Hope Harbor, follows police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) and officer Sung-ae (Hoyeon) as they investigate a mysterious creature terrorizing the area, while local hunters—including Sung-ki (Zo In-sung)—head into the nearby forest to track the beast, only to become the hunted themselves. The film gradually reveals that nothing is quite what it seems.

The cast includes Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, and Michael Fassbender. Written and directed by Na Hong-Jin.

This is an intentionally excessive swing from Na. When it works—and it does for most of its 160-minute runtime—it’s genuinely thrilling, starting from a mystery and then detonating into full creature-feature chaos, refusing to calm down—it’s the Korean “Fury Road.” Its first and last third, both an hour each, are single extended action sequences.

A film this overloaded with action, tonal shifts, and visual noise risks collapsing under its own ambition, but that it doesn’t is a damn-near miracle. What a volatile experiment this was—messy, polarizing, and unforgettable.

Na’s last film, “The Wailing,” released 10 years ago, played out of competition at Cannes and remains one of the most quietly influential Korean films of the past decade—a supernatural procedural that mutates into something far more unclassifiable.

Although Korean cinema’s international profile has long been dominated by names like Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Lee Chang-dong, and Kim Ji-woon, it’s time Na Hong-Jin got the same level of recognition. If you need a reminder why, go watch another gem from his filmography, “The Chaser,” one of the most vicious thrillers of the 21st century.