Episode 17

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Published on:

8th Oct 2026

Hope (2026) - An Action Movie from Art House Film Director, Na Hong-jin

We went in bracing for a horror movie and got an art house director's monster epic, one we place in the DMZ in the 1990s, and we spend the episode working out how far our expectations were from what Na Hong-jin made.

EPISODE SUMMARY

Hope (2026) is Na Hong-jin's first film since The Wailing in 2016, starring Hwang Jung-min, Alicia Vikander, and Michael Fassbender. On The Arc (thearc.fm), we talk about going in expecting a horror movie and finding a long, mostly-chase monster film that adds new movies near the end. Jaclynn calls it three movies stitched together, Robby disavows the horror label, and we land on the idea that our expectations were off, because Na Hong-jin comes from art house films.

WHERE TO WATCH

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A Long Summary

Hope is Na Hong-jin's first film since The Wailing in 2016: a 156-minute South Korean film that premiered in competition at Cannes in May 2026 and opened in the US that September. It's reportedly the most expensive Korean film ever made, shot by Hong Kyung-pyo. A village police chief and his rookie deputy defend their town from a mysterious creature, and the creatures turn out to be aliens. From the director of The Chaser and The Yellow Sea, that premise caught us off guard. We showed up expecting horror, and Robby spends a good part of the episode disavowing that label, at one point in a full Southern accent, which detours us into British and Southern accents and some fun at Cole's scones.

Most of our conversation is the three of us working out what the plot was. Jaclynn's take is the sharpest: it's long, mostly a chase, and introduces two new movies near the end, so it feels like three movies stitched together. Her metaphor for the film is a highlight, so we'll let you find it: it involves a three-year-old half-sibling, a crayon, and an art thesis you have to present as if the monsters were always the plan. From there we debate whether a mystery counts as a plot, whether the alien chasing the child is its mother or a servant, why the sun seems to sit at noon, and whether a cat a driver swerves to avoid was real. One of us felt for the alien during a shot of it in obvious pain. Jaclynn also tells us about living in Asia and visiting the DMZ.

We also hear from Na Hong-jin, in translated Q&As (recorded in Los Angeles and Seoul). In the first, he describes a film that grew and grew, and talks about how Korea's small surface area shaped where this story could be set. A second clip, in the chapter "on the real story," comes later in the episode.

The turn comes when we talk about who made it. Knowing Na Hong-jin's art house background made us reconsider what we'd watched, and it leads to a question we keep circling: what's the contract with a movie like this? In the end, we expected a horror movie and got an art house director's monster epic. You don't need to have seen Hope to follow along. Dad will explain linear.

WHAT WE DISCUSS

00:34 - THE MANY (OR FEW?) PLOT(S) OF "HOPE"

Robby is asked to say what he thinks the plot of Hope is without bending to the will of Jaclynn, who sees three movies stitched together around one long chase. We go back and forth on whether a mystery without a clear hero's-journey structure still counts as a plot.

08:36 - THE PLOT OF HOPE (FROM THE ALIENS' PERSPECTIVE)

We try to untangle the alien backstory, including whether the alien chasing the child is its mother or a servant, and we don't fully agree. We compare the way the story spirals outward to a Sam Spade movie.

10:20 - WHEN WERE EACH OF US IN OR OUT

We each name the moment we felt pulled into or pushed out of the film. One of us nearly walked out when the third movie began, and we talk about whether viewers should be warned that the film keeps restarting with new movies.

11:13 - WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW GOING TO "HOPE (2026)"

Some context before you go in: this is Na Hong-jin's first film in about ten years, it's reportedly the most expensive Korean film ever made, and we wonder whether he set out to make a blockbuster. We also marvel that the production built its sets on top of a real town.

16:02 - THE #1 THING WE WANT TO SAY ABOUT "HOPE (2026)"

We each give a short take on Hope, including a comparison to a jigsaw puzzle you assemble before noticing pieces are missing. Then we talk through how we'd critique it if a student had turned it in, and agree we'd put it more gently to a real student.

18:01 - JACLYNN'S AMAZING ANALOGY FOR "HOPE (2026)"

Jaclynn explains her mixed feelings with an extended analogy: a three-year-old half-sibling draws crayon monsters all over your art thesis, and you present it as if they were intentional. We then discuss what the contract is with a movie like this, and what viewers are owed.

22:53 - ON "FOCUS" IN STORYTELLING (EXPLAINED BY THE QUESTION 'HOW DO YOU EAT A SALAD?')

A conversation about focus in storytelling, explained through the question of how you eat a salad, and about how a story earns the audience's acceptance of its characters and plot. That leads into what we would ask the director.

37:23 - THE OVERALL FEELING OF "HOPE (2026)"

We poke fun at the chase's internal logic, from the time of day jumping around to the gas tank that never runs out, and we debate whether the cat a driver swerves to avoid was real and what that says about which lives are worth saving.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - COLD OPEN AND VERY SHORT TRAILER BECAUSE "HOPE" IS A KOREAN LANGUAGE ACTION FILM

0:34 - THE MANY (OR FEW?) PLOT(S) OF "HOPE"

3:21 - JACLYNN ON LIVING IN ASIA & VISITING THE DMZ BETWEEN North Korea and South Korea

4:58 - SET DESIGN

5:59 - SKETCH - CEO INTRODUCES THE DIRECTOR

7:22 - THE DIRECTOR SPEAKS

8:36 - THE PLOT OF HOPE (FROM THE ALIENS' PERSPECTIVE)

10:20 - WHEN WERE EACH OF US IN OR OUT

11:13 - WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW GOING TO "HOPE (2026)"

12:12 - STORIES OF WALKING INTO FILM SETS ACCIDENTALLY

16:02 - THE #1 THING WE WANT TO SAY ABOUT "HOPE (2026)"

18:01 - JACLYNN'S AMAZING ANALOGY FOR "HOPE (2026)"

21:47 - THE DIRECTOR OF "HOPE (2026)" ON THE REAL STORY

22:53 - ON "FOCUS" IN STORYTELLING (EXPLAINED BY THE QUESTION 'HOW DO YOU EAT A SALAD?')

23:59 - WHAT WOULD WE SAY TO THE DIRECTOR OF "HOPE (2026)" IN AN INTERVIEW?

26:37 - MAKING FUN OF COLE'S SCONES

27:38 - WHEN DID EACH OF US CRY DURING "HOPE (2026)"

30:14 - THINGS JACLYNN LOVES IN VISUALS

34:14 - BEHIND THE SCENES THOUGHTS (ESPECIALLY THE CAR)

37:23 - THE OVERALL FEELING OF "HOPE (2026)"

RECOMMENDATIONS

If you want to keep going on this one, a couple of other stops are worth your time. The InSession Film Podcast devoted an episode to Hope, a good companion listen if you want more voices on the film: InSession Film Podcast: Review - Hope.

The Certified Forgotten podcast also dedicated an episode to the film, for another take on it: Certified Forgotten: 'Hope' Gets Uncertified.

RELATED ARC EPISODES

Or consider starting from the beginning: Episode 01: The Princess Bride is where we became friends.

SOUND DESIGN ATTRIBUTION

Sound design via Freesound.org and Envato.

Downloaded on October 8th, 2026

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About the Podcast

the arc.fm
Storytellers talking about stories!
Join three very different storytellers with three very different personalities, as we bring each other stories to break apart and celebrate. In every episode, we're having the best time exploring what makes a story work, why it moves us, and why we can't stop talking about it. It's not analysis. It's not review. And it's something more than just a conversation about one of the things that makes life worth living... stories.