In director Bong Joon-ho's highly anticipated comeback after the box-office hit "Parasite," the genre-bending science fiction dark comedy "Mickey 17" explores the issues of self, capitalism, and expendability. The film, which is an adaptation of Edward Ashton's novel "Mickey7", stars Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, an "expendable" clone worker sent to colonize the frozen environment of Niflheim.
In 2054, a bleak future awaits mankind in the story of "Mickey 17" from where the audience is introduced to Mickey Barnes, a penniless member of society, who commits himself in a suicidal task to get rid of the disastrous fate of humanity pinned beneath a bleak sky of Earth. As expendable, Mickey's mission is to take the most hostile work in order to ensure the survival of the human community of Niflheim. Each time he dies, his consciousness (mind) is digitally transferred to a different body and lived and remembered everything that happened before.
The narrative is turned on its head when Mickey 17 is found unfit for service again, following a mission incident. He is the complete surprise about to be on hand there, and he quickly sees that already a second new clone, Mickey 18, has been brought into the world. This unprecedented situation forces both iterations to confront their existence, purpose, and the ethical implications of their roles within the colony.
Themes and Social Commentary
Bong Joon-ho thoughtfully interweaves dark humor and critical social commentary, which is a key theme in Bong Joon-ho's filmmaking. "Mickey 17" is a comedic allegory of the capitalist system, and rather parallels today's society. The film is a commentary on the technologies' dehumanizing effects, the commercialization of human beings, and how people are seen as little more than instruments in much larger economic systems.
Kenneth Marshall (played by Mark Ruffalo) is a dictatorial, authoritarian boss who has real-world analogues. His work on acting also evinces risks of unchecked power and how power to abuse is inherent in capitalist systems. The expendable dependence of the colony is a reminder of the disposability that has been assigned to certain categories of industrial workers and brings spectators to think of the ethical implications of this way of thinking.
Visual and Cinematic Elements
Visually, "Mickey 17" is representative of Bong's visionary idea of filmmaking. The stark, frozen landscapes of Niflheim are brought to life through meticulous cinematography, creating a palpable sense of isolation and desolation. The juxtaposition of the colony's sterile, controlled environment with the harshness of the planet's exterior serves to enhance the film's thematic depth.
Application of the technology of cloning is represented by a mixture of scientific accuracy and fantastic elements that create metapsychological questions regarding the self and the nature of being human. The interactions of Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 are palpable, exploring, e.g., the very represented identity and theistic and moral questions of the cloning.
Performance Highlights
Robert Pattinson gives a truly poignant performance in showing the despair and wear and tear of Mickey Barnes' existence. His performance convincingly expresses the man's inner struggle between his own substitutability and the quest for meaning in a given world.
The cast of Nasha Adjaya (Naomi Ackie), Timo (Steven Yeun), and Ylfa (Toni Collette) all have a deep significance in the film's complex dynamics. They discuss Mickey in terms of the ethical/affective challenges of cloning and survival in various ways.
Critical Reception
Critics have offered especially high praise for "Mickey 17" (85% positive on Rotten Tomatoes). Reviews praise the film for its dark-comedy and intellectually challenging aesthetic. Certain criticisms point to a wish for further investigation of some of the philosophical questions the narrative provoked, however, generally speaking, the film is praised for its innovativeness and its timeliness.
Bong Joon-Ho's dystopian sci-fi, Mickey 17, is a striking contribution to the sci-fi genre that gets the spectator to question the cost of living in a capitalist manner and to think of the boundaries that technology can accomplish. With a darkly comic sensibility, the film makes a deep and affecting social commentary on the current state of societal relations, and thus reaffirms Bong's standing as a filmmaker not afraid to engage with rich and difficult problems.
Release Information
Note: "Mickey 17" premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2025 and is due to be released in the United States on 7 March 2025.
ALSO READ | Catalonia Shines at Berlinale 2025: Films, Tech Startups & TV Series
ALSO READ | Saturday Night Live Celebrates 50 Years: A Star-Studded Anniversary Extravaganza
