Mickey 17 Review: Bong Joon-Ho Delivers Another Masterpiece

What's it feel like to die?

Through curious eyes as wide as saucers and nervous smiles hiding from beneath pinched lips, just about everyone on the colonizer ship heading to Niflheim (named for the cold, misty realm of the dead in Norse mythology) has asked this question to Mickey Barnes — or one of the many human printings of him — much to his chagrin. No matter how many times he dies, it never gets any easier, but Mickey finds solace in knowing that no matter what, he'll still wake up in the morning regardless of how brutal his demise was the day before.

After some risky financial dealings with loan sharks inspire Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) and his business partner Berto (Steven Yeun) to escape Earth to avoid being killed by the shark's heavies, Berto quickly finds a gig as a pilot, while Mickey volunteers to be an "expendable," or a person who will tackle suicide missions in the name of science for the betterment of the human colony. Each time he dies, a new version of him is printed out with all of his memories intact, even if the personalities of each print aren't perfectly in line.

Despite his unusual existence, Mickey managed to find love with Nasha (Naomi Ackie), giving this expendable a life worth living and more importantly, worth fighting for. But everything comes into jeopardy after the human print edition Mickey 17 is falsely believed to have died on an expedition across Niflheim, and another copy, Mickey 18 is printed in his place. Now the multiples of Mickey (and those that love them) must fight to keep them a secret from the ship's cult-like, fascist, egomaniacal, blowhard leader Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his malevolent, puppeteering, sauce-obsessed wife Ylfa (Toni Collette) before they're exterminated for good.

With a sublime cast, "Mickey 17" is a deeply heartfelt and uncomfortably funny musing on capitalism, colonization, and corruption. It's a perfect film for our time, and Bong Joon-ho's best English-language film yet.

Studios and streamers typically release their films vying for Oscar contention in the late fall or early winter just ahead of voting, but if there's any justice in the world, "Mickey 17" will follow in the footsteps of "Everything Everywhere All At Once" and persevere despite being released early in the year. Director Bong should absolutely be in contention for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture, but if Robert Pattinson doesn't walk away with a Best Actor nomination for his performances as multiple Mickeys, something is very, very wrong.

Pattinson has proven himself to be one of the most interesting talents currently working today, but "Mickey 17" is undoubtedly his finest performance yet. Sorry, "The Batman" and "The Lighthouse" (...and "Twilight," there I said it) I love you. He effortlessly captures the tone of "Mickey 17" especially through Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 — fluctuating between the laugh-out-loud black comedy of the script with the downright terrifying implications of the political caricature at the film's core.

Naomi Ackie, who stunned in last year's criminally underappreciated "Blink Twice," continues to prove why she's a tremendous star on the rise, serving as the moral axis for which the entire film hinges. Steven Yeun is, as expected, a delightful supporting player, while Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette spin gold with their outlandish characterizations of the elite. Ruffalo in particular is an absolute scene-stealer. If you thought he was going for it in "Poor Things," you better strap in for "Mickey 17."

For those who fell in love with Director Bong through his Academy Award-winner "Parasite," I highly encourage you to tune into "Okja" and "Snowpiercer," as "Mickey 17" is far more in line with those stories than the former (while still sharing thematic similarities). Director Bong is a modern auteur and to share a timeline with this living master of the craft is an honor we shouldn't take lightly. Only he can take a premise so chaotic and weird and make it feel so intimately human. He understands us better than our therapists ever could, and is tapped into American anxieties with such precision, that our homegrown directors should feel ashamed for being too cowardly to address it with as much authority as he has proven to possess time and again.

Director Bong's filmmaking has become defined by blending commentary on social inequity and the dissection of human existence through genre storytelling, unafraid to critique systemic structures with as stark contrast as visibly possible. The working inhabitants of the colony don deep gray uniforms that practically blend in with the cold, industrial ship they call home, while the wealthy elite explodes with flamboyant color, rich meals, and vocal tics that border on cartoon villainy. Mark Ruffalo, in particular, elects not to be a mustache-twirling menace, but instead melds the internet-speak circa 2014 vocal tics of oligarchical losers like Elon Musk and the unmistakable, uneven rhythm and breathy fry of Donald Trump. If you told me the way he talks about the native inhabitants of Niflheim were lines pulled directly from anti-immigration press conferences, I'd not question it. 

I'd say Director Bong is clairvoyant for his accuracy in forewarning our current political climate, but the reality is that America is so damn predictable, and Director Bong was brave enough to say it out loud. The fact "Mickey 17" was delayed in its release only ended up making the film even more relevant, with Kenneth Marshall no longer appearing like a failed wannabe but instead a cautionary tale of what's to come if we don't fight back, now. If only Congress could take a page from Director Bong's home country regarding what to do with wannabe dictators.

While the concept of human printing thankfully doesn't exist (yet), the journey of Mickey Barnes is unfortunately all too relatable. The expression "regulations are written in blood" isn't just an ominous catchphrase, it's a reminder that every safety precaution we have in our society was created as a response to the serious injury or death of a human being. Capitalism already treats human beings as expendable, keeping us financially strapped and willing to put our bodies and minds through hell if it means being able to afford to stay alive, only to replace us without hesitation if they deem it necessary.

"Mickey 17" crystalizes our horrific reality into an existential parable, one that fundamentally understands the hell of working-class existence with the allegorical precision of "The Twilight Zone." It's a story about people finding love, connection, and community under hopeless circumstances, and a rallying cry that we all deserve better conditions for existing.

/Film Rating 9 out of 10 

"Mickey 17" opens in U.S. theaters on March 7, 2025.