After his Oscar-sweeping triumph Parasite (2019), Bong Joon-ho had carte blanche to do just about anything. His follow-up? Mickey 17 -- a US$115 million (3.8 billion baht) sci-fi dark comedy that's equal parts existential nightmare, absurdist farce and strangely, a love story. Based on Edward Ashton's novel Mickey7, the film is genre-defying, thought-provoking and often downright bizarre -- in the best way possible.
Set in a grim future where humans are colonising the icy planet Niflheim, Mickey 17 stars Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, a low-level crew member who signs up for the most dehumanising job imaginable -- an Expendable.
He's the guy they send in to do the deadliest tasks -- because when he dies, he's simply reprinted, memories intact, in a brand-new cloned body. Mickey 17 is, quite literally, the 17th iteration of himself. But the real twist? Each version of Mickey seems to have its own quirks, emotional baggage and growing sense of self -- something the system didn't account for.
As the film unfolds, the reprinted Mickeys begin to question the ethics of their existence, rebelling in small but poignant ways against the machine that sees them as disposable. At its core, Mickey 17 is a satire about labour, class and identity, told with Bong's trademark flair for mixing the hilarious with the horrifying.
But for all its conceptual heft, what surprises most is the film's emotional core -- anchored by a love story between Mickey and Nasha Barridge, a fiercely independent security officer played by British actress Naomi Ackie.
Robert Pattison in Mickey 17. WARNER BROS PICTURES
"Oh, please. Oh, please, God. Please let me be in this film!" Ackie laughed, recalling her reaction to reading the script for the first time.
Nasha isn't your typical sci-fi sidekick. She's sharp, funny, deadly when she needs to be -- and she's nobody's fool. When we meet her, she's working security aboard the colony ship.
"There's always a question of why would you choose to get on a ship going to somewhere completely different?" Ackie said. "She is highly skilled, especially when it comes to fighting, she's a champion. Earth was just not doing it for her any more. And she's an adventurous being and a risk taker."
Nasha sees through the polished facade of the mission leaders and the so-called dream of colonisation.
"There are a lot of people who are above her, but she's one of the people who is not fooled by the leaders who are preparing to create this new world," Ackie added. "She doesn't put them on a pedestal and is just using it as a vehicle to start again somewhere new." The spark between Nasha and Mickey is both strange and tender. It begins with a simple moment -- a glance exchanged in the cafeteria.
"I think the fact that he is alone," Ackie said, thinking about that pivotal moment. "There's something about Nasha, she's kind and there is something protective about her. She's like a lioness. And seeing someone alone who looks slightly out of place, I think her natural instinct is to be like, 'Hey, come sit next to me, get to know me'. And I also think she's attracted to him. There is that."
Naomi Ackie on set with director Bong Joon-ho. WARNER BROS PICTURES
It's an odd romance to be sure -- falling in love with someone who literally keeps dying and coming back -- but Ackie and Pattinson find the humanity in it. Director Bong gives them space to explore the complexities of love under bizarre circumstances and the chemistry between the two actors carries that emotional weight.
"The guy is a wonder," Ackie said of working with Pattinson, who had the daunting task of portraying not just one version of Mickey, but multiple. "This was going to be a tough task for anyone and to watch him handle it with so much ease and a smile on his face was incredible. The choices that he made are specific and so right and he's such a good actor. Such a good actor. That's it."
Being in scenes with more than one Mickey required a kind of double vision -- and a lot of trust.
"You're really seeing how someone works," Ackie said. "Watching him go back to the monitor. It has to be a methodical process because you're playing two different characters. There was an equal balance of preparation and play that I think makes a perfect actor and I really have a lot of respect for his work."
It's a tall order for any performer but the entire cast seems to rise to Bong's singular vision. Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo round out the ensemble, but it's Ackie's performance that steals many scenes -- balancing warmth, humour and badass energy.
Naomi Ackie and Robert Pattison in Mickey 17. WARNER BROS PICTURES
"Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk when asked, 'How do you transform?'. He's like, 'You want to know my secret? I'm always angry', " she joked. "Now, I'm not always angry, but I do have a part of me that stays until I need it -- this little power pack of ferocity that I only use when the situation calls for it. Luckily for me, in real life, I never need to use it, so I usually save it just for acting."
That power pack gets plenty of use in Mickey 17, but what truly elevates the film is the creative ecosystem Bong fosters on set. For Ackie, the experience was transformative.
"I couldn't put it better," she said, reflecting on the atmosphere. "Literally the last time I was on a set that big was Star Wars. I was prepared for the juggernaut that is a big studio film. What I wasn't necessarily prepared for was how fun it would be, how safe it felt, how everyone was excited to be there every single day."
"Director Bong as a person manages to make everyone feel worthy, important and artistic. I think there was a lot of space for everyone's creativity. It was just genuinely so much fun to do. And look, I'm British, I can complain, but there wasn't a day when I woke up and was like, 'Ugh, I don't want to go to work'. I woke up before my alarm bell went off, jumped in the shower, jumped in the car and was excited to go to work."
Her first meeting with the director while she was in Boston filming the Whitney Houston biopic still resonates.
"We just had a really good talk about art and how we like to work," she said. "I was hoping that he would let me audition. I was just like, 'Maybe not this job, but maybe in the future, he'll see that I'm not so bad an actor and he could put me in something else that's more manageable'. But no, I'm so glad it was this one."
So what is it about Bong's work that connects so deeply with audiences across the globe?
"This is a man who is so in contact with himself, with his humanity, his fears, his hopes, how he feels in the world and what he sees," Ackie pointed out. "There's such a specificity in the way he communicates that feels universal. He balances humour, depth, warmth and fear -- sometimes all within one scene.
"To live inside that man's mind for a day would be wonderful because I think he's such a great storyteller. And he's in his prime. His previous work has been amazing and he's continuing that legacy. It felt like a huge privilege just even talking to him… so to be able to work with him was a totally different and amazing vibe."
WARNER BROS PICTURES
