2026 Cannes Critics’ Panel: Day 5 – Na Hong-jin’s ‘Hope’

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Another first time filmmaker to the competition but no stranger to Cannes, South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin has showcased 2008’s The Chaser (Midnight Screening), 2010’s The Yellow Sea (Un Certain Regard) and 2016’s The Wailing (Out of Competition) in the past. Perhaps the most costly production of all the offerings, a filmmaker who likes to examine moral collapse under pressure, fear, paranoia and contagion of violence and the limits of rational investigation, for he proposes another mixed bag of genres – this is set in the remote village of Hope Harbor, near the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the community is thrown into chaos when a tiger is suspected to have appeared and local police chief Bum-seok is alerted. But what begins as a local emergency soon spirals into a deeper, more terrifying mystery, one that forces the town’s residents to confront the unknown. Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender star. This is Competition film #12 of 22.

Final film of the day (naturally closer to midnight) Hope blasts into the comp with an average score of 3.1 — some critics who put it at the top of their faves of the fest, while some had lukewarm responses.

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Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). He is a Golden Globes Voter, member of the ICS (International Cinephile Society), FIPRESCI and AQCC (Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma).

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