Hope

Hope is screening at The Ultimate Picture Palace on Tuesday 27 October, starting at 7:45pm. It's a South Korean sci-fi creature feature directed by Na Hong-jin, the filmmaker behind The Wailing, and it's been described as one of the largest-budget films in South Korean cinematic history.

The story is set in the rural border town of Hope Harbor, where a flawed police chief and his deputy are investigating a mysterious creature wreaking havoc on the community. They're on their own: reinforcements have been diverted to wildfires and all communication has been cut off. It's a high-tech cosmic threat pitted against a low-tech, rugged landscape, and the creature itself doesn't even make an appearance until halfway through the film. The whole thing runs 2 hours and 37 minutes, in Korean with English subtitles.

In interviews, Na Hong-jin said his core objective was to explore human paranoia, xenophobia and the necessity of 'understanding the other', and that the isolation of the setting only strengthens the feeling of intrusion. Critics have noted its 1970s exploitation-flick atmosphere, and the film draws clear inspiration from monster classics like Jaws and Alien.

The cast includes Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. Tickets are £6 for members, and the screening is at The Ultimate Picture Palace in Oxford, just off Cowley Road, on Tuesday 27 October at 7:45pm.