Na Hong-jin does not make films quickly, but when he does, they tend to arrive like a warning shot. After “The Chaser,” “The Yellow Sea,” and “The Wailing,” the South Korean filmmaker is finally back with “Hope,” a new sci-fi thriller selected for the 2026 Cannes Film Festival’s Official Competition.
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Written and directed by Na—his first feature since 2016’s “The Wailing”—the film is set in Hope Harbor, a remote village near the Demilitarized Zone, where police outpost chief Bum-seok receives alarming reports from locals that a tiger has appeared. As panic spreads through the village, Bum-seok is forced into a confrontation with something far stranger than an animal sighting.
That setup is pure Na: procedural pressure tipping into something stranger and harder to explain. “Hope” also marks his first Cannes Competition slot, after “The Chaser,” “The Yellow Sea,” and “The Wailing” all screened at the festival in other sections.
The cast is major, too. Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, and Michael Fassbender star, giving Na a mix of Korean and international performers for what has been described as an ambitious Korean sci-fi thriller (and one that has seemingly taken many years to hit the screen). Plus M Entertainment presents the film, with Forged Films producing and Plus M Entertainment and Westworld co-producing.
“Hope” also arrives as one of the higher-profile genre entries in this year’s Cannes Competition and the first South Korean film to compete for the Palme d’Or since Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave” in 2022. NEON has acquired North American rights ahead of the festival premiere.
First images from “Hope” have arrived ahead of its Cannes world premiere. Check them out below.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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