South Korean director Na Hong-Jin's alien thriller Hope drew a standing ovation of six to seven minutes at its Cannes Film Festival premiere Sunday night, marking his most celebrated return yet to a festival where he has been a recurring presence since 2008.
The film runs two hours and forty minutes and follows a remote South Korean village near the Demilitarized Zone as residents confront what appears at first to be a tiger but turns out to be something far more dangerous. During the premiere screening at the Grand Palais, at least three major action set pieces drew sustained applause from the audience, according to Deadline.
According to Variety, Hope combined a gritty survival story and an original sci-fi mythology, and no one quite knew what to expect from the title going in. The film's first forty or so minutes deliver what feels like a continuous sequence of escalating bloody action, climaxing in the leveling of an entire town, as potty-mouthed police officers and hill people try to cope with a mysterious creature that has ripped their home apart.
The cast includes Korean stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Hoyeon, along with international names Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton. For Fassbender and Vikander, Cannes is familiar territory. For Hoyeon, Russell, and Britton, it marks their first appearance in the official selection.
Critics have responded warmly. The film has scored a near-perfect 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, just one point below the score earned by Adolescence, Netflix's record-breaking British drama. Reviewers have called it a glossy, big-budget drama filled with adrenaline and a genuinely excellent crime drama that pulls the viewer in.
Hope is also the first film of its kind to land in the Cannes main competition in recent memory, a notable distinction given that this year's festival has largely been defined by quieter, more auteur-driven fare. Placing a sci-fi monster film in competition is a rare move for a festival known for prestige cinema, and the audience at the Grand Palais appeared to embrace it fully, laughing loudly during at least one scene involving an elderly man's description of encountering aliens in the woods.
Na is no stranger to Cannes. He first appeared at the festival in 2008 with The Chaser, which screened out of competition. He returned in 2011 with The Yellow Sea in the Un Certain Regard section, and again in 2016 with The Wailing, which screened out of competition and dealt with demonic possession in a rural South Korean town. Hope is his first film in the main competition and his first Cannes entry in a decade.
Neon, which has been on a run of six consecutive Palme d'Or winners, acquired North American, U.K., and Australian distribution rights. Mubi picked up rights for Latin America, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Turkey. The film is produced by Na, Saemi Kim, and Saerom Kim for Forged Films, with Plus M Entertainment financing.