Who are the aliens in Hope? Where do they come from? What happens in the sequel?

Because Hope doesn’t give us any backstory on the aliens, everyone has to go digging into interviews and press releases to find information. The film’s production company, Forged Films, dropped an official relationship chart back in July. 

• J’aur: Empress, mother of Kali
• Emperor Ku’er: J’aur’s husband, father of Kali, on the big ship that explodes
• Kali: Crown Prince, son of J’aur and Ku’er, killed by Yang-bae before the movie starts
• Ma’veyyo: A warrior who protects Kali
• Ai’dovor: Kali’s nanny
• Va’migere: a kitchen assistant
• Krusini: Kali’s pet

These are other details I found from Korean press materials. The aliens come from the planet Gertu. Director Na Hong-jin described Ku’er as being aboard a “warship”. He also suggested Ku’er might even be God, which makes Kali a Jesus-figure. Forgive the Google translation: “The death of that existence and the resurrection of the child who died in the carpenter’s warehouse may be hope.” 

For those who may not be aware, Na is Christian but wrestled with his faith after losing several close friends in unnatural ways. The randomness of those losses, their seeming cruelty, took an emotional toll on him. “I already had the answer for the how. What I had to find out was the why. So I began to meet and talk to the clergy of various religions…” That’s what led to his previous film, The Wailing. It directly explores a crisis of faith. Hope seems to be doing the opposite.  

Okay, back to the alien backstory. 

There’s clearly a larger story going on that the sequel will explore. Remember, Ku’er was on a warship. Does that mean the royal family’s at war? That would explain why the Empress and Crown Prince fled on an escape craft. It would also explain why Ku’er’s ship crashes to Earth at the end of Hope. The enemy just dealt a decisive blow.

Who that enemy is, we don’t know. Maybe it’s another faction from Gertu and this is a civil war? Maybe it’s another planet? We’ll just have to wait for the sequel. It wouldn’t surprise me if this enemy became the greater villain that causes the humans to team up with the aliens.

If that’s the case, then J’aur and the other aliens aren’t some invading force threatening Earth but victims in need of shelter. Will the two sides be able to forgive the destruction they’ve caused one another? Can we work together? I hope so.