Dorm life is a weird cycle of instant noodles, looming deadlines, and the kind of late-night procrastination that only a truly bizarre movie can justify. You know the feeling — it’s 2 a.m., your textbook is staring at you with judgment, and your brain is screaming for anything other than another chapter on macroeconomic theory. You need something strange, something funny, something that makes you think a little but doesn’t feel like homework. You need an escape that’s as chaotic and uncertain as trying to figure out your own future.
That’s how, deep in a study-avoidance spiral, I stumbled upon Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17. I was scrolling through https://uk.soap2day.day/
looking for a distraction, and the premise alone was too weird to pass up. The film follows Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a down-on-his-luck guy who signs up for a space colonization mission as an “Expendable.” His job is literally to die. Whenever a mission is too dangerous, they send Mickey. When he dies, they just print a new one with all his memories intact. It’s a grim, hilarious setup for a story that’s part sci-fi adventure, part slapstick comedy, and part scathing critique of, well, everything.
The story kicks into high gear on the ice planet of Niflheim. After Mickey’s 17th version is left for dead during a mission, the colony’s leaders assume he’s gone for good and print Mickey 18. But when Mickey 17 miraculously survives and makes it back to base, the two clones are forced into a bizarre and paranoid existence, hiding the fact that there are two of them to avoid being executed.
From there, the plot spirals into a wonderfully messy satire. The colony is run by the cartoonishly tyrannical Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), a failed politician with a red cap and a desperate need for control, who seems more interested in his public image than the survival of his people. The two Mickeys, one a good-natured people-pleaser and the other an arrogant jerk, have to navigate their secret with the help of Mickey’s girlfriend, Nasha (Naomi Ackie), while dodging the suspicions of their backstabbing friend, Timo (Steven Yeun). It’s a story that uses its high-concept sci-fi premise to ask some surprisingly deep questions about identity, capitalism, and what it means to be disposable in a world that sees you as just a number.
A film like this lives or dies on its lead performance, and Robert Pattinson is absolutely brilliant. He plays Mickeys 17 and 18 as two distinct characters, using subtle shifts in his voice and posture to make them feel like different people who just happen to share a body. Mickey 17 is a lovable loser, a guy who has resigned himself to his fate with a kind of weary charm. Mickey 18 is aggressive and cynical, a version of himself that’s tired of being the universe’s punching bag. Watching Pattinson argue with himself is one of the film’s greatest joys, a showcase of his incredible range as an actor.
The supporting cast is just as fantastic. Mark Ruffalo chews the scenery as the buffoonish, Trump-esque leader, delivering a performance that’s both hilarious and genuinely unsettling. Naomi Ackie brings a much-needed warmth and heart to the film as Nasha, the only person who seems to see Mickey as a human being rather than a piece of equipment. And Steven Yeun is perfectly slimy as Timo, the friend who is always looking out for number one. It’s a cast that fully understands the film’s strange, satirical tone and leans into it with gusto.
Director & Writer: Bong Joon Ho
Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Dooho Choi, Bong Joon Ho
Key Cast: Robert Pattinson (Mickey Barnes), Naomi Ackie (Nasha Adjaya), Steven Yeun (Timo), Mark Ruffalo (Kenneth Marshall), Toni Collette (Ylfa)
Cinematography: Darius Khondji
Music: Jung Jae-il
After the tightly controlled masterpiece that was Parasite, Mickey 17 feels like Bong Joon Ho letting loose. The film is wild and unpredictable, constantly shifting between dark comedy, sincere romance, and sharp political satire. The visual style is stunning, with the bleak, minimalist interiors of the colony ship contrasting beautifully with the vast, icy landscapes of Niflheim.
However, this freewheeling approach is also the film’s biggest weakness. The narrative can feel scattered, with subplots that don’t always go anywhere and a third act that gets bogged down in a conflict with the planet’s native “Creepers.” While critics praised the film’s ambition and Pattinson’s performance, many found it to be a messy and uneven follow-up to Parasite. This mixed reception was reflected at the box office, where the film struggled to make back its large budget. It’s a shame, because even a messy Bong Joon Ho film is more interesting than most of what’s out there. The visual gags are so dense I had to rewind a few times on Soap2day just to catch them all.
As the credits rolled and the harsh light of my desk lamp brought me back to reality, I couldn’t help but smile. Mickey 17 is not a perfect film. It’s overstuffed, a little chaotic, and its satire can be heavy-handed. But it’s also wildly creative, genuinely funny, and features one of the best performances of Robert Pattinson’s career. It’s a film that dares to be weird, to ask big questions without always having easy answers. It’s the kind of weird, thought-provoking mess I’ll probably rewatch on Soap2day the next time I have a paper I don’t want to write. In a world of safe, formulaic blockbusters, a glorious failure like Mickey 17 feels like a triumph.
Release Date: March 7, 2025
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Running Time: 137 minutes
Budget: Approx. $118 million
Worldwide Box Office: Approx. $133 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77% (Critics), 73% (Audience)
Metacritic Score: 72 (Generally Favorable Reviews)
Rating: R