Hope

A mutilated cow on a country road looks like a job for the village cops. But instead of the suspected tiger, they soon find themselves facing an even more menacing threat. That A-list helmer Na Hong-jin is a master of multiple genres is already evident from his oeuvre, which ranges from action thrillers (The Chaser) to labyrinthine horror (The Wailing). In Hope, whose title initially seems ironic given its setting in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, the director takes the chassis of a science-fiction blockbuster and custom-builds it into a hyperkinetic, rhythmically scored, simply breathtaking machine, driven almost entirely by action and movement. Pure cinema, delivered in shootouts and car chases: witty, visceral, and a glimpse of the past, present, and future of the action spectacle. (Markus Keuschnigg)