“Rob Pattinson in IMAX, that’s a great experience to have.” Bong Joon-ho on Mickey 17

Few filmmakers have managed to seamlessly blend genre, satire, and deeply human storytelling quite like Bong Joon-ho. From the social allegory of Snowpiercer to the biting class commentary in Parasite, Bong crafts worlds that are at once strikingly original and unnervingly relevant. Now, he turns his gaze to science fiction once more with Mickey 17, an adaptation of Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7, starring Robert Pattinson in a dual role.

The Story: A Disposable Hero

At the heart of Mickey 17 lies its titular character, Mickey Barnes (played by Pattinson), a lowly ‘Expendable’ on a human colonization mission. His job? To die, over and over again, while his consciousness is repeatedly transferred into new printed bodies.

Bong, ever the master of existential absurdity, was immediately drawn to this concept: “Just from the summary of the original novel, I was instantly captivated. And of course, as I read page by page, I was even more engrossed in the story, because I thought that it had such a unique concept, which is human printing, and that’s very different from human cloning. It’s like you’re printing out humans as if human beings are just pieces of paper, documents to be printed out.”

This central conceit—where human life is reduced to a commodity—sets the stage for a narrative that is as deeply personal as it is grand in scope. Bong, never one to take the expected route, chose to ground Mickey in an everyman sensibility. “Even in the original novel, Mickey is quite an average person… but I wanted to make him even more average, even lower class, even more of a loser,” he explains.

Robert Pattinson: A Sci-Fi Everyman

Pattinson was an obvious pick for Bong. “We’ve all known him since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but I started seeing him under another light as an actor through Good Time with the Safdie brothers and his riveting performance in The Lighthouse with Willem Dafoe,” says Bong. The challenge of portraying both Mickey 17 and Mickey 18—a version of himself that throws the balance of power into chaos—was one Bong knew would push Pattinson to new heights.

Pattinson himself found the script unlike anything he’d encountered: “It’s one of those scripts where I haven’t read anything like it in a long time, and I don’t think I’ll ever read anything like it again. Even just the beginning: ‘So, it’s about a pastry chef in the future. He has a macaron shop. And he takes out a very risky loan with loan sharks and then he gets onto a mission to space, where he gets reprinted over and over again.’”

As strange as that might sound, it is precisely this kind of bizarre-yet-grounded storytelling that has defined Bong’s work. Pattinson embraced the oddity of Mickey, bringing layers of nuance and humor to the role. “Mickey is a deceptively complicated character,” he notes. “At first glance, he kind of seems like a sort of simpleton, but…”

A Star-Studded Supporting Cast

Backing up Pattinson is an ensemble cast packed with talent. Naomi Ackie (The Rise of Skywalker) plays Nasha, Mickey’s partner, a strong and charismatic force who defies genre conventions. “Nasha is actually the more powerful, the more charismatic and valiant character,” Bong explains. Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo, meanwhile, embody the darker forces at play, with Ruffalo taking on the role of a manipulative, dictatorial villain.

Steven Yeun, reuniting with Bong after Okja, plays Timo, a character whose presence adds a unique texture to the film’s tonal balancing act. “This film is sci-fi, but it doesn’t really feel like sci-fi,” Bong says. “Steven really adds to this not sci-fi aspect.”

Genre-Bending and World-Building

Bong is known for his ability to blend and defy genre, and Mickey 17 is no exception. “They say my films are a mix of various genres and wonder how I plan all that. But actually, I don’t make those decisions consciously,” he says. “I just depend on my instincts when I write.”

Aiding Bong in realising this vision is a powerhouse creative team, including cinematographer Darius Khondji (Okja), production designer Fiona Crombie (The Favourite), and visual effects supervisor Dan Glass (Snowpiercer). The team was tasked with bringing to life an alien world where technology enables both survival and subjugation.

“We had to invent a new creature that would feel alive, so we assembled the best VFX team for the job,” says Bong. “The creepers aren’t just creatures, but one of the main characters that also has a lot to do with Mickey.”

A Sci-Fi Film with Heart

At its core, Mickey 17 isn’t just about sci-fi spectacle. It’s a film about human nature, resilience, and the search for meaning. Bong’s signature social commentary is woven into the story, subtly critiquing labour exploitation and corporate dehumanisation. “It has to do with how we treat and respect a human being,” he says. “It’s not that there’s this separate grand political layer to the story. If you just watch all the struggles Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 go through, you naturally get a sense of the political context.”

Despite its heavy themes, Mickey 17 is also one of Bong’s warmest films. “Actually, it’s the first time I’m delving into just how silly and foolish people can be, and how that foolishness can actually make them more lovable,” he admits. “People have been commenting on how warm this film feels, compared with some of my previous works.”

A Must-See Theatrical Experience

As streaming continues to dominate the entertainment landscape, Bong remains a staunch advocate for the cinematic experience. “We live in the streaming era, but there are still certain things you can only feel when you watch a film on a big screen in the theater,” he says. The film’s intimate close-ups and grand set pieces alike are designed to be seen in a theater, with Bong promising a visually rich experience: “Rob Pattinson in IMAX, that’s a great experience to have.”

With Mickey 17, Bong Joon Ho once again challenges genre expectations, crafting a sci-fi story that is both wildly imaginative and deeply personal. For fans of the novel Mickey7, as well as those who have followed Bong’s career, this film represents a new frontier—one filled with humor, existential dread, and the unmistakable stamp of one of cinema’s greatest living directors.

Mickey 17 is out in cinemas on 8 March. Read our review here.