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Na Hong-jin's new film Hope has been selected for the Official Competition of the 79th Cannes Film Festival. It marks the 20th time a Korean director has entered the Cannes Competition, and the first time for Na Hong-jin himself. The film received its world premiere at the Lumière Grand Théâtre on the 17th, earning a six-minute standing ovation immediately following the screening.

Hope is a science-fiction thriller set in Hopo Port, a harbor village on the Demilitarized Zone, following a series of events unleashed by the appearance of an unidentified entity. Hwang Jung-min, Jo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon play village residents, while Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton portray alien characters through motion capture and facial capture technology. Beginning as a survival action film before expanding into science-fiction mythology, the work alternated between tension and humor, drawing an enthusiastic response from the packed Lumière audience.

Industry anticipation for Hope was already high before its Cannes screening. NEON — which has distributed six consecutive Palme d'Or winners — secured North American, UK, and Australian distribution rights, while MUBI took on distribution for Latin America and major European territories. Cannes General Delegate Thierry Frémaux had previously described the film as "a story in which genres are constantly transformed, unfolding a chapter of history that has never before been brought to light."

Na Hong-jin's relationship with Cannes dates back to 2008. Having appeared at the festival in various sections over the years, Hope marks his first entry into the main Competition. This trajectory — advancing from section to section across different editions — reflects the growing weight with which Cannes has come to regard Na Hong-jin's genre experimentation and directorial vision. Hope now stands poised to demonstrate this summer, across global theatrical markets, what the festival's endorsement can translate to in terms of commercial momentum. How this film — shaped by Na Hong-jin's singular vision — resonates beyond the festival circuit remains the question to watch.

Sources

• Variety, "'Hope' Unleashes a Bats— Crazy Korean Monster Movie on Cannes and Earns 6-Minute Standing Ovation," 2026.05.17

• Kookmin Ilbo, "Na Hong-jin's decade-in-the-making Hope to receive world premiere at Cannes on the 17th," 2026.05.08

• Segye Ilbo, "It's finally here… Na Hong-jin's Hope to receive world premiere at Cannes on the 17th," 2026.05.08

• Yonhap News Agency, "Na Hong-jin's Hope to screen as world premiere at Cannes Film Festival on the 17th," 2026.05.08