Korean Sci-Fi Thriller HOPE Releases in Pakistan on October 23 Through HUM Films
Karachi: Pakistani fans of Korean cinema have a date to circle. HOPE, the science-fiction thriller from director Na Hong-jin, opens in cinemas across Pakistan on October 23, brought here by HUM Films as part of an international rollout that also takes the film to the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Russia and India.
From Cannes to Karachi
The film arrives with serious pedigree. It premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and its cast mixes Korean heavyweights Hwang Jung-min and Zo In-sung with Jung Ho-yeon, who shot to global fame in Squid Game, alongside Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton. Na Hong-jin built his reputation on lean, brutal thrillers — The Chaser and The Wailing are the two titles every Korean cinema fan knows — and HOPE is his biggest canvas yet, blending sci-fi, suspense and monster horror.
A town, a presence, and 18 takes
The story is set in Hope Harbor, a fictional port town near the Demilitarized Zone, where the arrival of a mysterious presence turns ordinary lives upside down and leaves a community fighting something it does not understand. Jung Ho-yeon trained in firearms handling and car drifting for the role, and has said one long action sequence took 18 takes to get right under Na’s perfectionist direction. Releasing in both Urdu and English, the film gives local audiences a rare chance to see a major Korean production on the big screen in the same week as much of the world.
