Hope

Ko Bum-seok is the police chief of Hope Harbor, a small village near the Korean Demilitarized Zone inhabited mostly by elderly people. His second cousin, Ko Sung-ki, asks him to investigate a dead cow with gaping wounds. Sung-ki and his fellow hunters claim that a stray tiger killed it, but they later discover more dead cattle and the farm owner. When Bum-seok returns to Hope Harbor, he finds that a large monster has massacred several townspeople. With reinforcements unavailable due to wildfires elsewhere, he joins retired colonel Ahn Nak-yeon in pursuing it, but they accidentally shoot and seriously injure a chef.

Bum-seok continues alone and joins a local militia, only to discover that the monster is an intelligent, seemingly indestructible humanoid. After it massacres the militia, rookie police officer Im Sung-ae rescues Bum-seok using artillery she had ransacked. Sung-ae severs one of the monster's legs, and they pursue it by car. Bum-seok hesitates to shoot after noticing it crying, but the monster is accidentally run over and killed by a tanker.

Afterwards, Bum-seok assists a surgeon examining the corpse, who finds several similarities to the human body. At police headquarters, Bum-seok and Nak-yeon meet eccentric hunter and aspiring carpenter Yang-bae, who claims to have killed another monster. Although Bum-seok doubts his account, they accompany him to inspect the body in his freezer. Meanwhile, Sung-ae treats the wounded at a makeshift hospital and interviews Mr Hae-sul, who claims to have seen several monsters while hunting. Fearing that more remain, Sung-ae goes to warn Bum-seok.

Yang-bae's corpse proves to be a monster infant. Bum-seok concludes that the adult monster was searching for its child and angrily blames Yang-bae for inadvertently causing the disaster. Sung-ae then arrives with her findings, prompting the group to realise that Sung-ki may be in danger. Bum-seok, Nak-yeon, Sung-ae and Yang-bae set out to warn him.

Meanwhile, Sung-ki and his fellow hunters discover a crashed spaceship in the forest and realise that the monsters are aliens. Inside, they find a section where the young are kept, but are ambushed by alien Empress J'aur and her subordinates Ma'veyyo and Ai'dovor. The aliens kill everyone except Sung-ki, who escapes Ma'veyyo only to be rescued by heavily armed local union members, who are also slaughtered. Bum-seok's group arrives, allowing Sung-ki to flee on horseback.

Ma'veyyo pursues Sung-ki along the highway while Bum-seok and Sung-ae attack from their car. Sung-ki boards the vehicle and badly injures Ma'veyyo, but is accidentally thrown off when Yang-bae takes a sharp turn. Ma'veyyo later rejoins J'aur, who witness an allied spaceship emerge through a portal in the sky and crash into a mountain. Its shockwave causes the police car to crash, forcing Bum-seok, Nak-yeon, Sung-ae and Yang-bae to continue on foot while attempting to escape the aliens and warn Hope Harbor. Meanwhile, J'aur and Ma'veyyo seek the young Prince, intending to revive him using Ma'veyyo's heart.

A mid-credits scene reveals that Sung-ki survived and is limping along the highway.