Directed by Bong Joon-ho and based on the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, Mickey 17 follows the financially destitute Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) who wants to get off Earth and signs up to be an “expendable”, a disposable clone worker, on the human colony Niflheim. As an expendable, Mickey undertakes several dangerous assignments he is not expected to survive, with a new body being regenerated each time he dies. During one such assignment, one of his clones, “Mickey 17”, is incorrectly assumed dead and prematurely replaced. Mickey 17 finds his way back to the colony and meets his replacement, known as Mickey 18. Under the rules of the colony, only one iteration of an expendable may exist at one time, and if Mickey 17 is discovered, both he and Mickey 18 will be destroyed. Both the previous and current versions of Mickey Barnes have to grapple with the nature of being expendables and fight back against the oppressive leaders governing the colony.
Bong Joon-ho has proven himself to be a versatile and masterful director whose incredible work has won over many audiences. He is characterized by brilliant emphasis on social and class themes, unique genre-mixing, unfiltered dark comedy, and sudden yet fantastically executed tone shifts. So when his newest film was coming up many people, including myself, were eager to see what he had created. Take the brilliant themes and dystopian setting of Snowpiercer combined with the unhinged humor and satire of Starship Troopers and you get Mickey 17, one of the best films of 2025 and another amazing film to add to Bong Joon-ho’s stellar filmography. It is a cleverly written and amazingly directed film that has so much to offer, from extremely committed performances by a talented as hell cast, to a colorful yet highly relevant commentary on classism, eugenics, human nature, colonization, finding one’s self-worth, and the cult of personality. It is a passionately crafted and refreshingly original sci-fi film that deserves the praise it’s been getting and deserves far more attention than it has been getting from the public.
Bong Joon-ho chose the perfect cast of committed actors and actresses for this wild film who truly give their all to these characters, making us invested in each of them in different ways, and they all manage to deliver extremely funny moments, with most of those moments coming from the primary cast members including Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, and Toni Collette.
Robert Pattinson has been on a serious hot streak with insanely surprising yet phenomenal performances in all of the recent films he has been in, and he once again does the same in this film in a double performance as Mickey Barnes, or Mickey 17 and 18 as they are mostly referred to in the film. He delivers such a nuanced performance as these two clones and masterfully transforms into the starkly different personalities of each Mickey, with rich amounts of charisma and incredible ease, showcasing just how much of a chameleon actor he has become.
Mickey 17 is such a dimwitted yet kind-hearted soul that represents a lovable human taken advantage of by others, while Mickey 18 is an aggressive and unhinged individual that represents all the pent-up anger that Mickey has bottled up over time from being an experimental guinea pig that has died several times and has gotten tired of it. The two of them reminded me a lot of the dynamic of Ren and Stimpy, which funnily enough was the inspiration behind Pattinson’s performance, and I absolutely loved every minute of Pattinson as these two Mickeys delivering endless laughs and touching emotion as they go on a truly wild journey of finding self-worth by fighting against a corrupt system that has been using and abusing them for far too long.
Joining Robert Pattinson and sharing incredible chemistry with him is Naomi Ackie as Nasha Barridge, a security agent, Mickey’s love interest and the girlfriend of one of his previous clones. I didn’t expect Robert and Naomi to click as quickly as they did in this film but they ended up being such a perfect couple together, sharing romantic and hilarious moments that felt extremely natural and not artificial. Additionally, Naomi Ackie also gets her own moments to shine as Nasha in a lot of scenes, including an aggressive rant scene that was both funny and emotionally powerful.
Robert Pattinson may have been the most dominant performance of this film but competing with him was a truly phenomenal and scene-chewing performance by Mark Ruffalo as Kenneth Marshall, the egomaniacal politician in charge of the human colony of Nilfheim. Mark Ruffalo has always been a talented actor who can perfectly deliver both drama and humor in his performances, but he was on a whole different spectrum in this film with an absolutely unhinged performance as the film’s villain who you love to hate and is a brilliant satirical take on egomaniacal politicians in real life, mostly ones in American politics. And based on the extremely absurd yet hilarious dialogue and fanatical cult of personality surrounding this character you’ll know exactly which politician this character and performance is based on, as well as how it is guaranteed to piss off a lot of red hat-wearing idiots that this film also makes direct fun of. I absolutely applaud Bong Joon-ho for what he did with this character as well as Mark Ruffalo for fully committing to the role.
Alongside Mark Ruffalo, you have Toni Collette as Ylfa, Kenneth Marshall’s devious and controlling wife who is also a love-to-hate villain in this film and given a dedicated performance by Collette. She plays such a sleazy and pompous character and does it in such a fantastic way that you can’t help but despise her even when she delivers her own comedic gold moments.
The supporting cast is also extremely solid with some standout performances from several individuals including Steven Yeun, Anamaria Vartolome, and Patsy Ferran. Yeun does a great job playing such a jerk as the character Timo, but he did feel very underutilized compared to the rest of the cast, which is my only small negative of the film.
The film’s narrative is humorously surreal in the best ways possible, offering a fun story full of highly relevant themes. And while there is definitely a lot of humor and satire present there are a lot of dark and unsettling moments that detail some of the horrors of eugenics and colonization. Similar to Parasite, Bong Joon-ho was able to take a familiar genre and elevate it further by exploring morality, colonialism, separation of the classes, and politics in a unique way. This film may contain genres and ideas we have seen numerous times in other sci-fi films, but Bong Joon-ho managed to find a way to make them feel original and refreshing through his fantastic writing and direction.
There is so much you can take from this film, and while some audiences may not understand all the themes at first glance or find the film to be too bizarre in its style and tone, I do highly encourage people to open their minds to this film as well as pay attention to the messages it has to say. In one way or another, some people are going to find a narrative element in this story they will engage in and want to discuss.
As for technical elements, this film is easily one of the most visually epic films out of all of Bong Joon-ho’s films in terms of how it looks and feels. The practical locations are incredibly well made for the interior of the colony ship but also the planet Nilfheim is stunning, with its mix of practical environments blended seamlessly with excellent CGI effects.
Speaking of CGI effects this film features awesome and unique-looking aliens called “Creepers” who play a significant role in the film, as well as having their own theme, and I found them to be a great addition to the film. Whether it is outside on the freezing plains of the alien planet or inside the gloomy colony ship, the film oozes with beauty in every frame thanks to stellar cinematography by Darius Khondji, a frequent collaborator with Bong Joon-ho. The editing and sound design are also extremely fun with how they enhance some of the comedic aspects of the film.
In terms of music, we get Parasite and Squid Game composer Jung Jae-il delivering another excellent score that is fitting for the tone and themes, sometimes enhancing both the satirical and the dark moments of the film.
This film was truly wonderful from start to finish and I am really hoping people can give it a chance no matter how bizarre it may seem to them at first glance. It’s an incredibly smart and fun sci-fi romp made by a phenomenal director that deserves far more attention than it has been receiving. This has the makings to be a cult classic that I think many people are going to want to come back and rewatch frequently. I’m going to give Mickey 17 an A+ = 99.
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