The firrst photo has been released from “Hope,” the long-gestating sci-fi thriller which marks the return of Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin whose last film was 2016’s widely hailed supernatural masterpiece “The Wailing”.
The story begins in the isolated village of Hope Harbor, not far from the demilitarised zone. Reports of a tiger sighting prompt the arrogant but duty-bound local police chief (Hwang Jung-min) to investigate.
But what begins as a simple rural emergency quickly snowballs into something far stranger — a cosmic mystery that tears the town’s sense of reality apart. Zo In-sung portrays Sung-ki, a young local who passes his days hunting and fishing. Hoyeon appears as Sung-ae, a tenacious officer who remains steadfast in her duties.
Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton all appear as aliens whose arrival begats waves of paranoia and terror amongst the populous.
The film is expected to be lengthy with talk that it could be split into two at one point. It’s not clear if that’s still the case as the film is still being edited and isn’t expected to debut until the festival circut next year.
Alex Hong, who served as the cinematographer on “Parasite,” “Burning,” “Snowpiercer” and “The Wailing,” lenses the film here which was mostly shot in Korea and partly shot in Romania
The photo shows a scene from “a moment in the depths of the forest as a rider on a galloping horse seizes a young man by the collar, saving him just as he is pursued by an alien threat”. Said sequence was reportedly shot using cameras filming at 120 frames per second.
The film, which has yet to set a U.S. distributor, is aiming for a Summer 2026 release.
The teaser poster of HOPE by Dir. Na Hong Jin pic.twitter.com/YdMJeLBOH9
— TRBLRBL (@troublerbl) September 15, 2025
Source: Deadline
