The Story
After watching Hope, the first thing I wanted to know was whether the village 'Hopo Port' was a real place.
It isn't. The setting is fictional, but the actual filming took place in Namchang, Bukpyeong-myeon, Haenam County, in South Jeolla Province.
What I found more interesting was the old Bukpyeong bus terminal. The production redressed the real building as the fictional 'Hopo Police Box,' and it's been left exactly as it appears on screen — even the actual Kia Stellar patrol car used in filming is still parked out front.
Haenam County apparently dressed up the whole area in a 1970s–80s look to coincide with the release, calling it 'Movie Street' — complete with actor murals and alien-creature sculptures.
해남군 해안 풍경 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The forest scenes are a different story, though. In the film it's clearly a Korean mountainside, but it was actually shot in Romania's Carpathian Mountains — the production said Korean forest trees had too many small branches to get the look they wanted.
So this film, which plays like the story of one small village, was actually pieced together from opposite sides of the planet.
Thinking back over the plot: it starts with police chief Beom-seok going to inspect a mutilated cow carcass and sensing something is deeply wrong. Before long, the entire village is devastated by an unidentified being.
Meanwhile hunter Seong-gi and his companions, out in the mountains, find a crashed spacecraft in the forest. After spotting a small alien creature inside, they're lured by a creature called Ai'dovor into an ambush by Ma'veyyo and J'aur, and everyone but Seong-gi is killed.
In the village, elderly militia members and civilian defenders are killed one after another. Yang-bae, a recluse living in an abandoned house near a reservoir, keeps giving suspicious testimony about a young alien named Kali that he shot and killed.
해남군 풍경 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
What makes the film unusual is that it never frames the human-alien conflict as good versus evil — it's a tragedy between beings who simply can't understand each other.
In the final act, Beom-seok, Seong-ae, and Nak-yeon join forces for a last stand against Ma'veyyo, and it's in that ending that the title's real meaning — Hope — clicks into place. I'll leave the specifics for you to see.
Director Na Hong-jin has defined Korean-style thrillers with The Chaser, The Yellow Sea, and The Wailing, and this is his first time tackling alien-invasion material — and, I learned, his first film in ten years since The Wailing.
It premiered in the official competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in May 2026, drawing worldwide attention, and opened in Korean theaters on July 15. At 156 minutes, it's a long film, but watching it, that runtime makes sense.
If I'm ever in Haenam, I want to stop by Namchang first. Standing in front of that old bus terminal and seeing the actual patrol car would probably make the film hit differently.
Where the Scene Really Happened
Top 5 locations
다리 밑(가공의 공간)
THEMED
정육점(가공의 공간)
THEMED
양배의 폐가(가공의 공간)
THEMED
건어물 시장(가공의 공간)
THEMED
보건소(가공의 공간)
THEMED
All Hope locations (40)
해남 남창리 '호프 영화의 거리'
The real village where most of the film's opening act was shot. Haenam County dressed the street in a 1970s–80s look for the release and turned it into the 'Hope Movie Street,' complete with actor murals, alien-creature sculptures, and the actual Stellar patrol car used in filming. This is the real-world stage for the story's fictional village of 'Hopo Port.'
옛 북평 버스터미널(극중 호포출장소)
The former Bukpyeong bus terminal building, redressed for filming as the fictional 'Hopo Police Box.' It's where Beom-seok and Seong-ae are shown working, and the film-set look has been preserved as the street's most popular photo spot.
배우 벽화 거리
A stretch of street lined with murals depicting lead actors Hwang Jung-min, Jo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon. This is the core section of Namchang's 'Movie Street,' created alongside the film's release.
외계 생명체 조형물
A section of the street featuring sculptures modeled on the film's alien creatures — an unusual photo spot layering sci-fi imagery over an ordinary village streetscape.
북평면사무소
The real administrative office that marks the starting point of the Movie Street walking route. Namchang is the seat of Bukpyeong-myeon township, and the route down from the office has become the established way to tour the filming locations.
이진항
A real port near Namchang, a gateway on Haenam's southern coast with ferries to Wando. It offers an authentic fishing-village scene that pairs naturally with a tour of the filming locations.
해남 우수영관광지·울돌목(명량대첩 현장)
A real historic site about a 30–40 minute drive from Namchang. This is Uldolmok, where Admiral Yi Sun-sin defeated the Japanese navy with just 12 ships at the 1597 Battle of Myeongnyang, and also a filming location for the film Roaring Currents. Local media has featured it alongside Hope as part of a 'Haenam cinema trip.'
땅끝마을(해남 땅끝전망대)
Haenam's best-known attraction, marking the southernmost point of the Korean mainland — a natural addition to a trip south from Namchang.
루마니아 카르파티아 산맥 숲
The real location where the film's forest scenes were shot. Korean forests have too many small branches to get the look the filmmakers wanted, so production chose the old-growth forest of Romania's Carpathian Mountains instead. Though the story presents it as a Korean mountainside, the footage was actually shot on the other side of the world.
다리 밑(가공의 공간)
The spot where Nak-yeon hides while the creature rampages through the village — the place where he and Beom-seok first cross paths, when Beom-seok's mistaken shot nearly hits him.
정육점(가공의 공간)
The butcher shop run by Beom-seok's friend Gyeong-seok. A key turning point occurs here when Beom-seok and Nak-yeon, chasing the creature, mistake his silhouette for it and shoot him.
양배의 폐가(가공의 공간)
The abandoned house near a reservoir on the village outskirts where Yang-bae lives alone. Filled from yard to interior with mannequins and animal remains, it's also where he hides the body of the young alien Kali in a freezer after killing it.
건어물 시장(가공의 공간)
The market where Chun-ho and Beom-seok search for the missing Deok-gi. Inside one of the shops, Deok-gi is killed by Va'migere, and moments later Chun-ho himself is fatally struck by the creature — one of the film's most brutal late scenes.
보건소(가공의 공간)
The clinic where Va'migere's body is brought for autopsy. The clinic director resorts to a chainsaw to determine the creature belongs to no known species — a scene that shifts the film's tone.
학교 임시 구호소(가공의 공간)
A makeshift relief shelter set up at the local school after the town is devastated, where the wounded are treated.
숲속 우주선 추락 현장(가공의 공간)
The forest crash site where Seong-gi's hunting party discovers the crashed spaceship. Here they first witness the aliens' existence, and are soon lured by Ai'dovor into an ambush by Ma'veyyo and J'aur.
외계 우주선 내부(가공의 공간)
The lower section of the crashed ship that Seong-gi's group enters after finding the wreck — where they first glimpse a small alien creature, setting up the ambush that follows.
고속도로 추격전 현장(가공의 공간)
The site of the elderly militia's truck attack by Ma'veyyo, and later the climactic highway chase where Beom-seok's group makes their final stand against the creature.
야산 우주 함선 추락지(가공의 공간)
The hillside where an alien mothership in orbit (linked to Kueol) crashes and explodes near Hopo Port — an event hinted to be unrelated to what happened in the village itself, left as one of the film's open threads.
저수지(가공의 공간)
The reservoir near Yang-bae's house, part of the eerie backdrop of the village's outskirts.
마을회관(가공의 공간)
The village hall, briefly shown as a gathering place where residents discuss the unfolding crisis.
출장소 총기함(가공의 공간)
The Hopo Police Box's gun locker, suspected of being opened without authorization by Officer An — the origin point of hunters obtaining heavy weapons.
소 사체 발견 현장(가공의 공간)
The site early in the film where Beom-seok, investigating a mutilated cow carcass, first senses that something is deeply wrong.
촬영용 스텔라 경찰차 전시
The actual Kia Stellar patrol car used in filming is displayed in front of the former bus terminal (the film's Hopo Police Box) — a real prop showing the production's period-accurate detail for its early-1980s setting.
남창리 옛 시장통
A real traditional market street in Namchang that predates the Movie Street makeover — gives a sense of the atmosphere behind the film's dried-seafood market scenes.
목포(해남 관문 도시)
The gateway city travelers pass through en route from Seoul to Namchang — a real transit hub reachable by KTX and express bus, and the practical starting point for a Haenam trip.
완도
A real island reachable by ferry from Ijin Port — a natural addition to a trip through Haenam's southern filming locations.
칸 뤼미에르 대극장(프랑스)
The real venue where Hope had its official competition screening at the 79th Cannes Film Festival — where Na Hong-jin's first new film in ten years since The Wailing premiered to the world.
최후의 결전지(가공의 공간)
The site of the final showdown, where Beom-seok, Seong-ae, and Nak-yeon bring down Ma'veyyo after the highway chase — their brief celebration cut short by the shocking accident that flings Seong-gi from the vehicle.
숲길 매복 지점(가공의 공간)
The ambush site where J'aur's thrown spear kills Cheong-san and the leaping Ma'veyyo crushes Heung-sik — the turning point where most of the hunting party is wiped out.
백마 구출 장면 현장(가공의 공간)
The site of the film's poster-defining moment, where Hyun-ho on horseback rescues Seong-gi from a Ma'veyyo attack.
트럭 부대 이동로(가공의 공간)
The road where the elderly militia's white truck moves out to confront the aliens — the site of the tragedy where Ma'veyyo hurls the truck into the air.
면장 자택(가공의 공간, 편집분)
The setting of the myeon chief's residence, appearing only in the director's cut — the related scenes were entirely removed from the theatrical release.
우주선 하부 해치(가공의 공간)
The specific point where Seong-gi's group enters the ship and first glimpses a small alien creature — the moment that leads to their discovery by Ai'dovor.
총격 골목(가공의 공간)
The alley behind the butcher shop where Beom-seok and Nak-yeon fire at a silhouette, wounding Gyeong-seok.
두륜산 대흥사
Another signature Haenam attraction, a real temple and mountain reachable by car from Namchang — a good addition to a filming-location tour of southern Haenam.
브라쇼브(루마니아, 카르파티아 관광 거점)
A real Romanian city commonly used as a base for accessing the Carpathian filming area — offers medieval Transylvanian architecture alongside the surrounding nature.
구호소 운동장(가공의 공간)
The schoolyard beside the makeshift relief center, shown crowded with the wounded and evacuated villagers.
우주선 추락지 능선(가공의 공간)
The ridge near the forest crash site, shown as the route the hunting party takes before first discovering the wreck.
고속도로 표지판 충돌 지점(가공의 공간)
The specific spot where Yang-bae suddenly swerves and Seong-gi is thrown from the vehicle — the setting for the film's late twist.