Director: Na Hong-jin
Starring: Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 156 mins

Hope is South Korean director Na Hong-jin’s first film in a decade, who last made the excellent supernatural horror, The Wailing, in 2016. His latest is a creature feature (and that’s not a spoiler because the trailer gives the game away) and reportedly the biggest budget South Korean film ever. The film opens as police chief Ko Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) inspects a dead cow with some villagers, with the cow having some unusual wounds. Shortly after, more cattle and the farm’s owner are found slain with similar injuries, and he teams up with retired colonel Ahn Nak-yeon (Lee Sang-hee) to track it down.

The first 45 minutes of Hope are excellent – Na Hong-jin crafts a simmering tension with the mystery of what could possibly be going on with some grim imagery. Mid-way through a gonzo chase sequence, the director then chooses to reveal the horror that’s been causing these deaths, and you’ll either get on board with the film or you won’t. While it shifts down a gear from that tension-fuelled opening, I still found plenty to like and I could overlook the dreadful CGI because the film is so ambitious. Hope melds all kinds of tones, from the horror to some truly comic sequences, such as a graphic autopsy and an extended story from an eyewitness that involves diarrhoea. There’s also a very solid score by Michael Abels, Jordan Peele’s preferred composer and it’s beautifully shot by Parasite cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo.

Unfortunately, the film falls apart in the third act, where it reveals more about the entities behind these horrific acts and becomes less about the characters that we’ve followed for the past two hours. It also teases a possible franchise continuation, which I found quite wearing. On top of that, what starts as a thrilling action sequence in the forest that then turns into a car chase becomes quite wearing at its climax because it’s overlong.

Hope is an odd film – it starts off brilliantly, then decides to reveal its hand which takes away some of the mystery, although that’s offset by some high-octane action sequences, arresting cinematography and moments of comedy, only to then completely fall apart in the final act. And that misguided final act really is a chore to sit through and the idea of having to sit through that again really puts me off rewatching Hope. It’s a shame because there’s so much good work here and Na Hong-jin continues to prove why he’s one of South Korea’s most exciting directors. While Hope has a lot of outstanding elements, it’s ultimately a deeply flawed misfire.