The Most Completely Bonkers Sci-Fi Action Thriller of 2026 Officially Releases in 3 Weeks

Brace yourself

The summer of 2026 isn't technically over until the autumn equinox on Sept. 23, which means there's time for one last big summer blockbuster movie. This year started with some real doubts about the future of the movie theater business, but this summer’s box office has seen huge hits like The Odyssey, Toy Story 5, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, alongside a few smaller successes such as Obsession and Backrooms. It’s possible, however, that the biggest cinematic surprise of the summer might be an out-of-nowhere South Korean sci-fi horror mashup.

Director Na Hong-jin's Hope is scheduled for an American theatrical release on Sept. 9. If Hope has been flying under your radar so far, it may be worth keeping an eye out for screenings in your area, as the movie has been picking up good buzz and a few positive reviews since the Cannes Film Festival in May.

What is Hope about?

Hope is set in rural South Korea, where a strange creature is on the loose in the small village of Hope Harbor near the North Korean border. Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) and Sung-ae (Hoyeon, Squid Game) are two of the few cops in the area who aren't occupied with a nearby wildfire, so they’ve got to figure out what’s happening without any chance of backup. At the same time, the creature is being stalked by a group of local hunters.

From there, according to Hope's official writeup at Cannes, "what begins as ignorance plants the seed of disaster, escalating through human conflict to a tragedy of cosmic proportions."

Hope also stars Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, Taylor Russell (Bones and All), and Cameron Britton (Mindhunter).

Is Hope a good movie?

So far, the critical reaction to Hope has been tempered by how it's built around a big plot twist. The first trailers make it look like a high-budget action movie, with Sung-ae blazing away at aliens with a rifle from the window of her car. However, multiple critics have mentioned a genre shift in the second half, tied to when the non-Korean cast shows up, which makes Hope difficult to discuss without major spoilers.

As a result, it looks like we can expect a polarizing reaction from audiences once Hope reaches its wide release in North America. Hope is currently rated at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Hope is the latest in a series of big Korean productions to get a wide release in America. While real film dorks know that South Korea has had a robust film scene for decades, especially if you’re into horror, the success of Parasite in 2019 seems to have touched off a new wave of interest and cooperation from American producers and audiences. It’s been a long time coming.

This is the fourth film as writer/director for Hong-jin, after The Chaser, The Yellow Sea, and The Wailing. Hope appears to be his big swing at mainstream, international success, as it competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year, losing to Cristian Mungiu's Fjord.

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Hope is scheduled for release in American theaters on Sept. 9.