Hope Earns Strong Audience Response Ahead of Fassbender and Vikander Sci-Thriller's U.S. Debut Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander star in Na Hong-jin's Hope, a South Korean sci-fi thriller that has earned a 79 percent audience rating and is scheduled to open in the United States on September 9, 2026. Michael Fassbender's science-fiction thriller Hope has received a positive early response from moviegoers, earning a 79 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The score is supported by more than 250 verified ratings and is on par with the film's critics score. The result offers an encouraging preview of the South Korean production's American theatrical run, even though the film is not expected to set major box-office records. It currently stands as Fassbender's 13th-best rated movie, tying with his 2009 drama Fish Tank, while the rating ranks as Alicia Vikander's seventh-highest reviewed film and director Na Hong-jin's third-best. Hope follows a police chief, a rookie officer, and a group of local hunters as they confront a mysterious creature terrorizing a Korean town.Fassbender and Vikander, who are also partners in real life, play two members of the creature's species. The ensemble includes Hwang Jung-min as the police chief, Zo In-sung as his inexperienced partner, Taylor Russell, and Jung Ho-yeon. The Squid Game star makes her feature-film debut in Hope, adding considerable attention to a project already distinguished by its international director and high-profile cast. Vikander's participation also marks her first screen collaboration with Fassbender since The Light Between Oceans in 2016.The film made its international debut at Cannes earlier this year and accumulated favorable reviews before its scheduled United States release on September 9, 2026. Critics highlighted its intense action, suspenseful atmosphere, and distinctive approach to creature-driven storytelling. Nerdist described the movie as one of the year's most unhinged films, while several other reviews singled out Ho-yeon's energetic performance as an action hero. Hwang also received praise for bringing a fresh quality to the familiar police-chief role.The production carries a reported budget of $46 million and features ambitious visual effects intended to give the threat a memorable physical presence. The response has not been entirely uniform. Some viewers and reviewers have criticized the movie's uneven pacing and noted that portions of its visual effects work do not fully match the scale of its budget.The story has also left certain audiences confused, while its substantial runtime of roughly 160 minutes has divided viewers who felt the film could have been more tightly edited. Those concerns have not prevented Hope from connecting strongly with its early audience, but they may influence how widely the thriller travels once it faces competition from Practical Magic 2, The Uprising, and Runner in the American marketplace. Hope first opened in South Korea, where it generated approximately $37.8 million.Neon acquired the rights to distribute the film in the United States, and Deadline projects a three-day domestic debut of about $3.6 million. Those figures suggest a modest launch rather than a breakout opening, particularly as the release competes with several other new films. The Korean total nevertheless demonstrates that the movie has already established a meaningful audience in its home market before beginning its next phase of international distribution.The film's unresolved ending has also raised questions about the possibility of a continuation. In an interview with Tatiana Hullender for ScreenRant, Na said that telling the complete story would likely require one or two additional movies, although he suggested that the version presented in Hope might be sufficient on its own. He added that any opportunity to develop the narrative further would require more time for careful consideration.For Fassbender, the thriller arrives during a quieter period in his film career, after appearances in projects including Kneecap, Black Bag, and The Killer. He has increasingly focused on television, including the acclaimed spy series The Agency, and is preparing to reunite with Netflix for Kennedy, a biographical series about America's prominent political dynasty in which he portrays Joseph P. Kennedy Sr