Hope, Na Hong-jin's sci-fi monster film set in a remote Korean harbor village, is the biggest riser among released movies on our tracker this week. Our TMDb popularity snapshot for it went from 385.9 on October 21 to 587.0 on October 26, and it sits 74th on our hype ranking.
A likely reason is its home release: SlashFilm and Dread Central report it became available to rent or buy digitally on October 13. We cannot prove the link from data alone. What we can lay out is what the film is and how it has been received.
The Basics
Per Wikipedia:
- Director and writer: Na Hong-jin, whose earlier films include The Chaser and The Wailing.
- Cast: Hwang Jung-min as police chief Ko Bum-seok, Zo In-sung as Ko Sung-ki, Jung Ho-yeon as rookie officer Im Sung-ae, with Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton as the alien visitors.
- Premise: a village police chief and his rookie deputy must defend their community from a mysterious creature, while a local hunting party finds itself hunted.
- Runtime: the final cut is 156 minutes. The version that premiered at Cannes ran 160.
- Release path: world premiere in Cannes' main competition on May 17, South Korea on July 15, and the United States through Neon on September 9.
How It Did at the Box Office
- South Korea: 1.5 million admissions and $11.3 million over its opening weekend, and more than $35 million by August 2, per Wikipedia.
- North America: about $3.2 million on its opening weekend per Wikipedia, or $3.5 million on roughly 1,500 screens per World of Reel. Wikipedia calls it the third-highest-grossing Korean film in North America, behind The King of Kings and Parasite.
- Worldwide: Wikipedia lists $47 million but gives no date or regional breakdown for that figure, so treat it as approximate.
- Budget: $46 million per Wikipedia, whose own source does not appear to support it. World of Reel says $33 million. We cannot tell you which is right.
What Critics and Audiences Said
- Rotten Tomatoes: 79% from 174 reviews, an average of 7.1 out of 10.
- Metacritic: 67 from 37 critics, "generally favorable."
- Audiences: divided. Korean coverage of the opening described a "love it or hate it" split, with praise for the action and suspense and complaints about profanity and a hard-to-follow second half.
The critical consensus is that it is an unhinged, ambitious epic with striking production design and visual effects that some reviewers call quaint. Those two sets of comments fit together. A film that swings this big will lose some of the people who came for a different movie.
On awards, per Wikipedia, it was in competition for the Palme d'Or. It won the Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema at the New York Asian Film Festival. The Korean Association of Film Critics listed it among its top ten films and honored its director, lead actor and cinematography.
Where to Watch
- Digital: rent or buy from October 13, per SlashFilm. The article does not name stores or list prices, so check your usual one.
- Disc: a Blu-ray is listed for December 22, per JoBlo. The home release includes conversations with Na Hong-jin, including with Bong Joon Ho and Kim Jee-woon, plus behind-the-scenes material.
- Subscription streaming: none announced that we could find. One outlet expects Neon's usual later move to Hulu, but that is an estimate.
Editorial Take: Hope is the kind of film that is easier to rent than to talk friends into seeing in a theater: long, loud, strange, and unlikely to leave anyone in the middle. A 79% score and a 67 Metacritic reading describe the same thing from two angles, broad approval with real reservations. If you liked The Wailing, the director's track record is a good reason to try it. If you want a tidy monster movie, the reservations are worth taking seriously. The two-and-a-half-hour runtime makes a rental, not a ticket, the cheaper experiment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I watch Hope? It has been available to rent or buy digitally since October 13, 2026. No subscription streaming date has been announced that we could find.
Is Hope good? It has 79% on Rotten Tomatoes from 174 reviews and 67 on Metacritic from 37 critics, with a divided audience. Scores can change.
Who is in Hope? Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton.
How long is Hope? The final cut is 156 minutes, per Wikipedia.
How much did Hope make? More than $35 million in South Korea by August 2 and about $3.2 to $3.5 million on its U.S. opening weekend. Wikipedia lists $47 million worldwide without a date.
Is Hope on Netflix or Hulu? Not announced. Neon holds U.S. rights.
Box office, review and release details come from the sources linked above and can change. Popularity figures are Incoming's snapshots of TMDb's score on October 21 and October 26, 2026. Tracking what arrives next across movies, TV, games, music and books at incoming.to.