A Big Swing Is Not Always Enough

In the case of the epic monster movie Hope , it might even be too much.

Neon September 11, 2026, 7:50 AM ET Share Save The marketing for Hope , the new film by the South Korean horror master Na Hong-jin, presents it on an epic, otherworldly scale. It’s the most expensive Korean movie ever made, and the director’s first in more than 10 years, since his widely acclaimed hit, The Wailing ; its sweeping rollout across the United States, which includes special showings on premium-format screens, is also one rarely afforded to international productions. That approach befits Hope ’s run time (a hefty 156 minutes); its blockbuster plot, about an alien invasion taking place near Korea’s Demilitarized Zone; and its open-endedness—apparently, Na has already written a sequel. Yet the entire time I was watching it, I had one overriding feeling: Everything could perhaps be a little bit smaller.