'Hope'

Neon/Courtesy Everett Collection

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Hope, the first feature from South Korean director Na Hong-jin since 2016’s horror smash The Wailing, woke up this sleepy Cannes Film Festival at its world premiere late Sunday night.

The big budget sci-fi action allegory, in which aliens touch down in a rural village called Hope Harbor near the demilitarized zone (or DMZ) separating North and South Korea, received what may be the most enthusiastic and prolonged standing ovation of any film playing in competition this festival. The audience inside the Grand Théâtre Lumière cheered for 6 minutes straight, offering a good sign that this crowd-pleaser, which was acquired by Neon for U.S. distribution in early April, and by Mubi for international distribution, could be a commercial success. The audience also cheered and applauded during the film’s three outstanding set pieces — perhaps muting some of the response at the end of a 2 hour and 40 minute epic. “Thank you for staying for so long a film,” Na said when handed a microphone, after thanking the cast and crew in Korean.

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To say too much would spoil the fun of a movie whose twists and turns you’ll never see coming. But those of us who saw The Wailing premiere out of competition at Cannes 10 years ago, like I did, and became instant Na Hong-jin converts, will recognize its rhythms. The director has a flare for mysteries and cinematography that feels elemental, and that shamanistic horror film made audiences feel like they were chasing possessed family members around huts with dirt floors themselves. Hope looks and feels like it has a considerably bigger budget. Korean stars Hwang Jung-min (The Wailing), Zo In-sung (Moving) and Hoyeon (Squid Game) spar with an international cast featuring Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell and Mindhunter’s Cameron Brittona, none of whom are recognizable when they first appear onscreen.

In his review of the film, The Hollywood Reporter critic David Rooney called Hope “a wildly entertaining assault of turbo-charged thrills.”

“It’s a great feeling to know from a movie’s first frames that you’re in the hands of an assured genre auteur,” Rooney wrote. “The rare action thriller that takes place almost entirely in broad daylight, Hope pulls you in immediately with its virtuoso camerwork, pulse-pounding score, adrenalized pacing and sharply drawn characters.”

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