Michael Fassbender's New Sci-Fi Thriller Hope Rotten Tomatoes Score Gets Official Audience Verdict

Published Sep 11, 2026, 8:30 PM EDT

Fariba Rezwan is a Lead Editor for the Movie News team. She has been with ScreenRant for nearly five years, with roles ranging from list editor to junior news editor. 

During that time, Fariba has led coverage for breaking movies and TV news, including Hunger Games, Marvel, and streaming. Additionally, she has actively provided commentary and reactions to the biggest movies and shows on her YouTube channel, The Movieception Show. 

The audience verdict is in for Michael Fassbender's new sci-thriller.

Although Fassbender has a relatively quiet release year, the former Magneto actor starred in the new South Korean thriller, Hope, directed by The Wailing filmmaker Na Hong-jin. The movie follows a police chief, his rookie, and local hunters who fend off a mysterious creature terrorizing a Korean town. Fassbender and his Oscar-winning partner, Alicia Vikander, portray the aliens, while the main cast features Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Taylor Russell, and Jung Ho-yeon in her movie debut after her breakout role in Squid Game.

With over 250 verified ratings, Hope earns a 79% audience score, which matches the Rotten Tomatoes critics' score. Although the thriller doesn't break any records for Fassbender's career, it ranks as his 13th-best and ties with his 2009 drama, Fish Tank. Meanwhile, the audience score is Vikander's seventh-highest-rated movie and Na's third-best.

Before its release, Hope earned positive reviews after its Cannes premiere early this year. Critics praised the high-adrenaline action and suspense, with even Nerdist calling it the "most unhinged movie" of the year. Meanwhile, Hoyeon was deemed the standout performer as the action hero, while Hwang was lauded for a fresh take on his police chief.

Michael Fassbender's Last 5 Starring Movies	Rotten Tomatoes Critics' Score	Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Hope (2026)	79%	79%
Black Bag (2025)	95%	70%
Kneecap (2024)	94%	95%
Next Goal Wins (2023)	46%	85%
The Killer (2023)	85%	90%

However, it's not all perfect, with several reviews and audiences pointing out inconsistent pacing and poorly rendered visual effects despite the movie's $46 million budget. Meanwhile, the movie's lengthy 160-minute runtime also split viewers, who felt it was too long and were still confused by the story.

Hope was first released in its home country, South Korea, where it generated $37.8 million. It's only just reaching the United States on September 9, 2026, after Neon acquired the distribution rights. Deadline projects a domestic three-day debut of $3.6 million, as the thriller faces several new releases, including Practical Magic 2, The Uprising, and Runner.

In a ScreenRant interview with Tatiana Hullender, Na addressed the possibilities of a Hope sequel, given the cliffhanger. Although he admits that "I would need one or two more movies to tell the full story," the story he's told "might be enough." Even then, if an opportunity came for more storyline, the one condition is that he would need "more time to really think about it."

Fassbender gained prominence for portraying a younger Magneto in Fox's X-Men era and the android David/Walter in Ridley Scott's Alien prequels. In recent years, the actor has appeared in projects like Kneecap, Black Bag, and The Killer. Hope is also the first time that Fassbender and Vikander have collaborated since The Light Between Oceans in 2016.

Although Fassbender has slowed down his movie commitments, he has concentrated on television, including his hit spy series, The Agency. He will soon reunite with Netflix for the biopic series of America's famous political dynasty, Kennedy, in which he plays Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.

Hope is now playing in theaters.