Na Hong-Jin On ‘Hope,’ Why The Sequel Shifts To The Aliens & His Darker, Bloodier Next Film [Interview]

Na Hong-jin says a “Hope” sequel will shift toward the aliens’ perspective, but first he plans to make a darker, bloodier film.

September 11, 2026 9:00 am
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Ten years is a long time to disappear between movies. Then again, Na Hong-jin (“The Yellow Sea,” “The Chaser”) apparently spent a decent chunk of that decade figuring out how in the hell to make “Hope.” Given that the finished product is a sprawling, violent, frequently hilarious sci-fi monster movie built on a scale rarely, if ever, attempted in South Korea, you can understand why it took a minute.

Yes, “Hope” marks Na’s first feature since “The Wailing,” his terrific 2016 supernatural horror film, and this 2026 Spielbergian alien film is his biggest swing by a considerable margin.

Set in the remote South Korean village of Hope Harbor, the film begins with police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) and officer Sung-ae (Hoyeon) investigating a mysterious creature that has left quite a mess behind. Nearby, hunter Sung-ki (Zo In-sung) and his group head into the forest following another path of destruction. Suffice it to say, what they find is not especially interested in being hunted (read our review).

And because this is a Na Hong-jin movie, that relatively simple setup eventually mutates into something much bigger and stranger. Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton provide motion-capture performances for the film’s alien characters. At the same time, Na steadily pulls the rug out from beneath our assumptions about who the monsters in this story really are.

The Playlist spoke with Na about spending the better part of a decade becoming the filmmaker capable of making “Hope,” bringing creatures into broad daylight rather than hiding them in darkness, why recognizable actors were needed beneath all that digital alien skin, the planned shift in perspective for a sequel, and whether he might eventually follow filmmakers like Bong Joon-ho into an English-language production.

It’s been 10 years since “The Wailing.” Did “Hope” take 10 years to make, or did it take 10 years for you to become the filmmaker who could make a movie like “Hope”?
In the very beginning of those 10 years, there was a situation in which it felt like the U.S. could attack North Korea. I began writing the script during a time of huge social unrest. About a year later, the pandemic hit. Three or four years passed that way.

I would say after “Hope” was being written and prepped, that was a solo endeavor. It was really five to six years that we were primarily working on “Hope.” To answer your question, I would say it was the latter. It was the time it took to become the filmmaker and make the film.

At this point, you’ve done the serial killer thriller “The Chaser,” the character-driven crime epic “The Yellow Sea,” the demonic small-town horror of “The Wailing,” and now this massive sci-fi film. Across all of them, the connective tissue is fear and misunderstanding, and what people become when they lose control of a situation.
I would say “Hope” really looks at the conflict between humans and the violence and tragedy that comes with it. And I really wanted to organize my thoughts about those topics through “Hope.”

You mentioned my past work, so I would say that this is the completion of that era, of the themes that I was exploring through my past work.

This is easily the biggest production you’ve ever attempted, with the scale of a Hollywood tentpole without necessarily having Hollywood remply being able to throw more money at the problem?
I have been working with filmmakers for the past 20 years. I believe in my team. VFX—it’s really the piece that we have to think about and work at

That is really difficult in Korea, with the redifficult. In South Korea, we have never created a VFX creature to the level that we wanted. So all we could do was attempt to do our best

Before we even see the creature, we’ve already imagined it in our heads a million different ways. How do you make sure the real monster can compete with the one the audience has already invented?
Ultimately, I had to imagine it in my head. It really took a lot of work, from the location scouting and pre-production to really thinking about the creature’s movement, all the way to the post-production process.

I’d say in one shot, we were thinking about it thousands of times and had countless conversations. And this is despite a very thorough pre-visualization and storyboard process.

We really knew that the audience would be imagining this character. So I had to draw on my own imagination for the creature’s design. I grew up watching a lot of Japanese animation, so I could pull from those images I remembered for the movement and design, and approach the character design with confidence.

A lot of filmmakers working with budget constraints would hide their monster in darkness. You put yours right there in broad daylight for a huge portion of the movie. Why make things more difficult for yourself?
The story goes that the sun rises, and then you’re thrown into the story of “Hope.” Then the sun sets, and then the sun will rise again.

So what you’ve seen is really just half of the story I’ve written, and it is before the sun sets.

The reason the film takes place entirely in daylight is that a sequel is already planned, and in the sequel, the night will continue. It was only possible for us to shoot these action sequences during the day, and I really love that feeling because, in terms of a creature in darkness, I’ve done it before. I’ve seen it before. So that didn’t feel very new or original.

I really wanted to create images of a creature during the day that would feel fresh.

I’ve heard you potentially have a trilogy planned. Would you want to go into Part 2 as soon as possible? Is it already greenlit, and could you shoot Parts 2 and 3 back-to-back?
What I have slated after this is a darker, bloodier movie that I’ve already half-written. And after that, I’d consider a sequel for “Hope.”

You cast some very famous actors as creatures:Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, but we never really see those famous faces. Was there something appealing about casting recognizable actors and then completely hiding them?
The casting came from a need for great performances for the creatures themselves.

I mentioned that in the next part of the story, the perspective shifts to the aliens. For that to happen, we need meticulous performances for the aliens themselves. It felt absolutely necessary.

I knew it would be a difficult ask, especially learning the new language. But it was a really big part of continuing the story.

There are already moments in this movie where that turn begins happening. You start questioning the human point of view and even partially sympathizing with the creatures. How difficult was it to make that shift without pushing the audience too far in either direction?
I would say that the elements of perspective change were already set and not created during the edit. [SPOILER ALERT] The moment is when we see the baby alien, and the mystery of the film has been solved.

I couldn’t have created a bigger perspective change in this moment. However, that would have made the ending sequence very clean and the ending very clean.

I really wanted to drag out the human perspective so the audience could decide for themselves whether to stay with the human perspective or switch to the alien perspective in that moment.

I wanted the audience to leave the theater asking, “How do I feel about the film?” Checking on themselves about whether they were aligned with the humans or the aliens. I thought that asking that question was a really important part of the experience of watching the film.

Several South Korean filmmakers, like Bong Joon-ho, have moved back and forth between Korean- and English-language films. Is that something you’d ever be interested in doing?
Na: If I ever have the opportunity to make a film like that, I would love to make it. I’m definitely not against shooting an English-language movie. I feel like it can be any language, Japanese or Chinese.

I feel like I did a film of this scale and nature, which was “Hope,” and as I mentioned before, I would say that this kind of wraps up an era for me and my past work. So if there’s a fun story, I’m willing to shoot it in any language.

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If Part One of “Hope” is ultimately about misunderstanding between two sides, what can you tease about Part Two thematically?
Na: I would say the story continues, but even with understanding, tragedy can still occur.

“Hope” is playing exclusively in theaters now

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