Hope divides viewers after opening day

Na Hong-jin's film 'Hope' is drawing divided responses early in its release. The film opened on the 15th and drew 33 ten-thousand viewers on its first day, recording the largest opening audience count among films released in 2026.

'Hope' was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where foreign media responses included 'a crazy film' and 'I don't know what I just watched.' Domestic audience reactions were also sharply split, with the confusion described as containing both pleasure and displeasure.

Viewers who responded favorably pointed to the scale of a science-fiction production rarely seen in Korean cinema and to action that delivered speed and sensation. Viewers who were critical pointed to narrative plausibility, story density and an ending they found insufficiently explained. Criticism of CG completion, which had been mentioned from Cannes, also appeared across responses.

Na's films have often divided viewers in their opening periods. 'The Chaser,' 'The Yellow Sea' and 'The Wailing' all had both enthusiasm and criticism early after release, though the gap in response to 'Hope' is larger than for those three films.

The divide also followed Na attempting a genre he had not tried before and expectations for a large-scale film close to 700 hundred-million won, with responses split between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Reservation share stood at 61. 4%, and advance reservations had passed 55 ten-thousand tickets.

Since opening day, Na's first new film in 10 years has been described with labels including problem film and strange work. The film remains a subject of discussion in both favorable and unfavorable terms after release.