Before ‘Hope’, Na Hong-jin Made One Of Korea’s Most Chilling Horror Masterpieces

Na Hong-jin's Hope (2026) is already making the rounds as a creative look at a monster film that balances human elements with genuinely scary moments, and is hitting theaters on September 9th, 2026. But this isn't the first time the director has explored the horror genre. In fact, his last film, The Wailing (2016), dives headfirst into an unsettling and thought-provoking horror story.

Hope may be the story that has gotten Na Hong-jin worldwide attention, but The Wailing is a film that better captures his visual style and how he contributed to a subgenre in horror that feels overdone. Instead, The Wailing subverts our expectations time and again until the truth is revealed, showing us the face of true horror.

What Is ‘The Wailing’ About?

The Wailing is a mystery in a small South Korean town where a mysterious elderly Japanese man visits, and not long after, the town begins to tear itself apart. As a police officer tries to understand what's happening, we see the denizens get infected with a strange disease that causes the infected to attack and kill one another.

It feels like a mix of a zombie film and a possession story, with the emotional core centered on the police officer trying to help his daughter, who is revealed to be infected as well. The horror of the film comes in various moments and balances disease, ghosts, zombies, and demonic elements to create something new. 

But the crux is about human nature, how it explores the treatment of outsiders, and the religious practices used to combat the evil, like Shamanism. It's a clash of cultures and beliefs, with the only constant being that there is true evil hiding close by, and it's ripping a town apart.

‘The Wailing’ Uses Basic Horror Ideas to Stay in Your Mind

The Wailing is a story rooted in faith and paranoia, and while the town is being afflicted, the film's main character, Officer Jong-goo, is the one we focus on as his world is tested by the foreign evil. To sell these ideas, we get a unique balance of supernatural and infection-based horror as the evil in the village is explored as a disease—hence the paranoia.

However, as the narrative continues, we see that the source is more supernatural than we'd think, which makes the answer to fixing everything more muddled. As a normal man faces unthinkable choices, he responds as a human would, and his choices are difficult to judge because, even though he makes mistakes, he's just a person.

But in doing this, we are met with horror that feels way more real because it makes us wonder if these things could happen to us in another universe and if they did, would we make the right choices? Coupled with the town's prejudice against the elderly Japanese man and their natural fear, thinking he caused it, it paints a picture of how dark humans can get. And yet, once we see the truth revealed and the demonic evil that plagued this town, we see that some darkness is necessary to survive.

Why to Watch ‘The Wailing’ Before ‘Hope’

Hope is sure to be an exciting film that gives us a unique twist on a monster movie and how humans fight back against them. But to fully understand what Na Hong-jin is doing to make the film work, it's key to watch The Wailing first.

Not only is this a film that is genuinely scary with haunting visuals, but it also shows how the director balances the outlandish with human moments. At an over two-hour runtime, every second counts and leads to a genuinely shocking conclusion. It also shows that sometimes, when facing a supernatural threat, humanity has to trust in one another and not give in to fear to survive.

Hope has a lot of potential and is already getting praise before it hits theaters in North America, but The Wailing serves as a great precursor to help you understand the importance of how director Na Hong-jin explores human nature. It also sets up that, when watching his films, nothing is as it seems, and shocking moments could come at any time. But if you're looking for a thought-provoking, scary good time, The Wailing is a fantastic film to check out.