Hopeless: Release date, plot, cast, trailer, and everything to know about Song Joong-ki's upcoming film

On Sunday, May 7, the Cannes Film Festival updated viewers with details for Song Joong-ki's upcoming noir film Hopeless, releasing the official poster, stills, character details, plot, and much more.

The movie has been invited by the 76th Cannes Film Festival to be exhibited this year under the non-competitive section 'Un Certain Regard.' Some other movies that have been invited by the coveted film festival include Cobweb, Project Silence, Sleep, and In Our Day.

Meanwhile, Song Joong-ki fans are excited about this recent development as it is the first time the actor has been invited to one of the largest and most prestigious film festivals in the world.

Everything to know about Song Joong-ki's upcoming film Hopeless

Release date of the Kim Chang-hoon helmed film

Song Joong-ki's upcoming noir film, Hopeless, is slated to be exhibited and screened at the 2023 Cannes International Film Festival between May 16 to May 27, 2023. Fans are eagerly waiting for it to be available on streaming platforms after the film festival. The production of the low-budget film kicked off in September 2022 and concluded on December 2022.

Hopeless is helmed by the director Kim Chang-hoon, produced by Sanai Pictures, and presented by Plusm Entertainment.

Plot details

Hopeless delves into the lives of people who need hope to live on. Yeon-gyu wants to escape to the Netherlands and leave his hellish life where he and his mother constantly get physically abused by his step-father. Meanwhile, the film also showcases the life of Chi-geon, the leader of a criminal organization.

As fates play their role., Yeon-gyu gets involved with Chi-geon and soon becomes an integral part of the latter's criminal organization. The Cannes Film Festival has described the storyline with the quote:

"In order to escape from hell, they become a part of it"

Who are the cast members?

1) Song Joong-ki as Chi-geon

Song Joong-ki is set to chronicle the role of the boss of a criminal organization who goes by the name Chi-geon. He is described to reside in a hellish world where the scars on his body and face are enough to prove that he has lived a struggling life and involved in all sorts of crimes. The Cannes Film Festival described him as:

"Song Joong-ki's new selection HOPELESS features a Song Joong-ki that you have never seen before."

The actor has also stated that Hopeless is the kind of film that is needed in the Korean film industry currently and he has tried his best to do so.

2) Hong Xa-bin as Yeon-gyu

Hong Xa-bin is set to chronicle the role of a 17-year-old traumatized teenager Yeon-gyu who has lived a life filled with abuse and violence. Despite working odd jobs, he finds it difficult to escape his dark life and soon joins hands with Chi-geon to survive and fight back. He gets into trouble for his sister and ends up asking for settlement money from Chi-geon.

3) BIBI as Hayan

Famous solo songwriter BIBI is set to chronicle the role of Yeon-gyu's stepsister, Hayan. The character is a strong personality who does not like whenever her brother gets succumbed to violence. Despite her annoyance with her brother, she is always on his side and does not want any harm to him. As he joins hands with the boss of a criminal organization, she starts digging into what he is doing apart from his odd jobs.

No trailer has yet been released for Hopeless. However, the Cannes Film Festival 2023 has released a series of stills and the official poster for the upcoming noir film, where Song Joong-ki, Hong Xa-bin, and BIBI are showcased in their characters. The official poster showcases the two protagonists standing in front of a huge mountain radiating a gloomy and eerie vibe.

In other stills, the characters are suffering from a hellish world -- be it getting stomped by someone, fighting amongst each other, or the glimpse of their personalities through their subtle and thought-provoking expressions.

Song Joong-ki was recently seen in the hit JTBC revenge drama Reborn Rich and has been confirmed for the upcoming film My Name Is Loh Kiwan.

About the author

Kirti holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism & Mass Communication and has been a Kpop writer at SK POP since 2022. She has been following Kpop and Kdramas since the last 6 years and but has worked in the genre only in the last 3-4 years donning several several caps - social media intern, copywriter, article writer and academic writer.

Kirti likes to pen down insightful features based on Korean dramas, especially the 'Ending Explained' categories. It gives her the satisfaction of creating the most authentic content rather than simply replicating what media outlets generally do.

Her process of creating content is time-consuming, yet methodical; she prefers to use original sources of information, which in her case are Korean outlets. She watches entire episodes, writes them down, cross-checks/fact-checks the details/event timelines off the web and eventually creates her copy.

Kirti likes Lee Je-hoon, IU, and Kim Seon-ho since she feels that their dramas are inspiring and have good plotlines. When she is not writing about K-dramas, she can be found watching them.

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Edited by Abhipsa Choudhury