Writer-Director Na Hong-Jin, who has continually redefined the paradigm of Korean cinema through immersive storytelling, meticulous mise-en-scène, and masterful direction, returns with HOPE. In Hope Harbor, a remote village near the Demilitarised Zone, police outpost chief Bum-seok receives alarming news from locals that a tiger has appeared. As the village erupts into panic, Bum-seok is forced to confront a reality beyond belief.

Director Na Hong-Jin has captured the global film industry’s attention with each work, marked by original storytelling, sophisticated visual aesthetics, and directorial prowess that seamlessly bridges artistic merit with mainstream appeal. His debut feature, The Chaser, opened a new chapter for Korean thrillers with its meticulous narrative and relentless pacing. At the same time, The Yellow Sea overwhelmed audiences with its expanded genre scale and raw energy. Following the immense critical and commercial acclaim of his previous film, The Wailing, which offered an overwhelmingly immersive experience through a dense web of metaphors and symbols spanning mystery and the occult, Na now presents his fourth masterpiece, HOPE.

DIRECTOR’S Q&A

On The Genesis of Hope: After finishing The Wailing, I was so physically and creatively drained that all I wanted to do was rest. Yet, even then, there were moments when flashes of inspiration would strike, making me think, “Now, that would be a fascinating story to tell.” It began with a simple premise: a man in a tiny, secluded village undergoes an impossible experience. The script itself came together quite quickly, but given the sheer scale of the preparation required, it took five years before we finally broke ground on production. The very first image I had for this film was of someone watching the news in a restaurant. They see that something catastrophic is happening, only to realise that it is unfolding right there in their own neighbourhood. The entire project branched out from that one brief moment. I kept asking myself: “What kind of movie should this be? This is so compelling… but what shape should it take?

What kind of story do I need to unravel?: ” Ultimately, if I were to define what this film tries to capture, it is the idea that “all the world’s tragedies stem from misunderstanding.” HOPE is a film that charges forward to tell that story in an engaging, non-tragicway. While audiences might feel they are watching an exhilarating action or sci-Fi film, it will undoubtedly leave them with something to ponder—a film where the gravity of the situation makes it impossible to just laugh it off as mere entertainment.

On Choosing Romania as a Filming Location: I’ve always felt that my initial ideas start from humble beginnings. However, as a project expands and deepens, it is the incredible crew I work with who transform those seeds into something grander, more profound, and more powerful. The decision to film in Romania emerged through extensive creative dialogue with Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo. As we explored the visual identity and the specific “atmosphere” of this film, our vision continued to broaden until it eventually led us all the way to Romania.

On the filming process: To reach Retezat National Park, you have to drive seven to eight hours from Bucharest. Our crew of 200 stayed in scattered guesthouses at an altitude of about 2,000 meters. From there, we had to navigate winding, unpaved mountain roads for another hour to reach the deep forest that served as our set. That is where we began principal photography. We were filming high-stakes, “insane” action sequences—horses galloping, bikes racing, heavy gunfire, and explosions. It was incredibly gruelling. I’m sure it was physically taxing for the actors, but I watched them give their absolute all, smiling through every single moment. I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere respect and admiration for their professionalism. I truly learned and felt a great deal from them.

Some people claim to have seen extraterrestrials, and there is no shortage of footage circulating
that purports to be “real. “Our collective perception of what an alien looks like is shaped by these images, and HOPE began from that very foundation. From there, we focused on developing and materialising those concepts—infusing the characters with emotion and the narrative depth required to lead the film. We collaborated with dozens of designers from different parts of the world to bring these visions to life. Each character belongs to a different species, with their own distinct social status and rank. Like characters in a game, they each have unique traits. However, I didn’t approach the design of this film as a”Sci-Fi” spectacle. To me, this was a drama between humans and aliens, and that is where I focused most. We used performance capture to translate the actors’ actual movements and expressions directly onto the characters. This choice was the most critical element of the film. I believed that for this story to reach its full potential, these aliens had to be capable of expressing complex emotions. Capturing that
emotion was the absolute priority.

People of Hope Harbour VS Aliens: To capture the stark contrast and sense of “otherness” between humans and extraterrestrials, Director Na Hong-Jin deliberately cast Korean actors as the residents of Hope Harbor and international actors as the alien characters. Alongside Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Hoyeon, the film also features Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton—longtime admirers of director Na Hong-Jin—who joined HOPE despite having relatively limited motion-capture roles, resulting in a tightly assembled global cast. The committed performances and seamless ensemble of actors representing Korea and Hollywood heighten the film’s vivid entertainment value to the fullest.

The Creative Force Behind The Craft Of Hope: HOPE is the result of a relentless pursuit of perfection, bringing together an elite crew with unparalleled expertise in cinematography, production design, VFX, music, stunt coordination, sound mixing, makeup, costume, and special effects. For this new thriller, remarkably devoid of nighttime scenes, Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo turns his attention to the subtlest shifts in natural light, using them to shape and sustain the film’s atmosphere. By utilising wide-angle lenses to close the distance with the characters and employing camera movements that heighten cinematic thrill, he crafted a visual style entirely unique to this film. Production designer Lee Hwokyoung seamlessly integrates diverse locations spanning Romania, Haenam, Jeju Island, and Hapcheon, transforming them into the singular, immersive setting of Hope Harbor. Stunt coordinator Yoo Sang Seob, a longtime collaborator who has worked on all of Na’s feature films, orchestrates the film’s ambitious action sequences. The score is composed by Michael Abels, the acclaimed composer behind Get Out, Us, and Nope.

3D Creature Characters Brought to Life: HOPE is a pure action film crafted through traditional filmmaking techniques, while also featuring 3D creature characters realised through highly sophisticated technology. By bringing these creature characters into broad daylight, the film takes on an unprecedented challenge. Through the collision between 3D creature characters brought to life using facial and motion capture and raw, human-driven action, HOPE sought to offer audiences a cinematic thrill unlike anything they had seen before, while reinforcing its central concept: the clash between aliens and humans. With HOPE, director Na Hong-Jin takes on creature characters for the first time, aiming to portray the aliens not merely as antagonists but as fully realised individuals. To create four distinct alien characters, each differing in species, status, and class, dozens of designers from around the world contributed to the development process. After nearly seven years of work, the team finalised unique character designs that reflect the likenesses of the actors ultimately cast. To convey the aliens as beings of superior intelligence, the production collaborated with linguistics professors to develop a fully structured alien language, complete with its own alphabet system, rooted in ancient linguistic principles. Combined with the actors’ physicality, gaze, and emotional depth, these alien characters emerge as both a visual centrepiece and a core pillar of Hope’s storytelling.