South Korean director Na Hong-jin made his San Diego Comic-Con debut to showcase new footage from “Hope”, Neon’s forthcoming alien action film. He said the project, which has been a decade in development, retains thematic links to his earlier work but differs sharply in style and content, asking audiences to set aside expectations formed by films such as “The Wailing”. The preview matters because it offered the first substantial public look at the director’s ambitious English-language-facing international production.

Set in the isolated village of Hope Harbor, the film follows police and local hunters pursuing a creature that has devastated the community, only to become its targets. The Comic-Con footage included a gunfight through a ruined town ending with a giant alien encounter, and a high-speed chase involving a horse, police car and fanged creatures. Hoyeon plays a determined police officer; Na called casting her his “best decision” and said she trained for six months to drive a manual car and perform difficult driving scenes herself.