[Dispatch=Kim Ji-ho] ※ This article contains some spoilers for the film 'Hope'. We know the mythical archetype of hope. When Pandora could not resist curiosity and opened the jar, all misfortune spread into the world. The one thing that stubbornly remained inside was hope itself. Hope originally grows in presence the more intensely calamity and despair intensify. In other words, without the premise of misfortune, hope cannot exist either. This sticky coexistence of misfortune and hope is the honest theme that director Na Hong-jin designed for 'Hope'. For the first hour, an inexplicable calamity unfolds in Hopoang. Beomseok (played by Hwang Jung-min) is ignorant of this calamity and trembles with fear. The gun he fires is powerless, and instead only adds to the calamity (killing a friend). Beomseok is too weak to be called the protagonist, and the line between good and evil is unclear. Just as the audience begins to question this protagonist, director Na Hong-jin reveals the starting point of the calamity. Yangbae (played by Eum Moon-seok), a character who doesn't seem particularly important, was Pandora. His mundane otaku-like collecting behavior was the problem. To him, a cutely-looking baby alien, a taxidermied beast, or a female mannequin displayed in the yard are all the same. Only this time, the trophy is a bit expensive, which is just regrettable. Also, it is premature to be surprised by the intense battle between Hopoang residents and the aliens. In this war, Hero Sunggi (played by Cho Jin-sung), who appears to achieve a great victory at first glance, vanishes pathetically in an instant. In fact, director Na Hong-jin entrusted Sunggi's exit—which displayed immense presence—to Yangbae. Yangbae merely turned the steering wheel slightly while avoiding a cat, and Sunggi was gone. Actually, we don't even know whether Yangbae really saw a cat. Director Na Hong-jin intentionally hid it. Furthermore, the director lands one more sucker punch. At the very end, Sunggi comes back to life as if nothing happened. The ending is a complete departure as well. The moment the aliens' language is translated and appears as subtitles, a massive reversal of subject and object is completed. If the bizarre horror film from the early part of the movie became a creature film, it wraps up as a prologue to an 'Avatar'-like science fiction movie. The aliens, which by humans' description "reeked like shit," turned out to be the real protagonists. They become the subjects bearing a tragic fate of repeating despair and hope. Now we should shift focus to these pitiful aliens, but the movie ends anticlimactically. Conversely, the residents of Hopoang fall into barbarian antagonists. Then did audiences spend 150 minutes passionately following the story of supporting characters—or in extreme cases, extras—rather than the protagonist? The appeal of 'Hope' lies in the endless reversal of subject and object that unfolds. Values that seemed important become meaningless, and trivial things that didn't seem important at all bring shock. Like the question in the movie, "Is that important right now?", 'Hope' constantly shakes all the importance that audiences hold onto. This entire process of calamity, hope, importance, and meaninglessness repeating is that. Director Na Hong-jin simply dismisses these as tricks of fate. Looking back, director Na Hong-jin showed horror close to cosmic horror in 'The Wailing' and 'Longlong' (planning and production). He dealt with humans facing unknown entities with overwhelming power. In 'Hope', the alien simply occupies the seat of absolute strength. However, director Na Hong-jin goes one step further here. If the humans in 'Longlong' surrendered helplessly before evil spirits, the humans in 'Hope' fight on equal footing and even kill the aliens. But the aliens aren't helpless either. They too, like humans, are victimized, then pursue, then despair again, then hold hope. They even foreshadow actions that could change fate. They stand in opposition while sharing the theme of 'hope' simultaneously with humans. Perhaps director Na Hong-jin's anguish lies in Beomseok's line at the ending. Seongsae: Aren't you pleased with my plan? Beomseok: I'm not sure either. My head just won't clear. It's just... my heart! My heart feels C8! It's strange. Beomseok's emptiness is the very experience that audiences undergo as they leave the theater having bitten on this enormous bait. Indeed, after taking a 156-minute sucker punch, audiences must leave the theater with a peculiar and strange feeling. Finally, 'Hope's hope and despair are completed through audience reviews. If you gladly enjoyed director Na Hong-jin's bold experiment, you can join the 'fan' line. However, if you focused only on plausibility and necessity, you might resort to 'extreme dislike' rating bombing. But beyond like or dislike, the question all audiences ask themselves is likely common. If your head doesn't clear and your heart feels strange, then you must cry out, "What the hell did I just watch?" This is why 'Hope' drove both critics and fans crazy.