If there’s anything you can count on with Korean director Bong Joon-ho, it’s his consistency with his themes.

Whether it’s about class disparity with Parasite and Snowpiercer, or capitalism and environmentalism with Okja and The Host, you can expect a lot of bats*** insane moments played straight and its messaging delivered to you both subtly and as heavily as humanly possible. Nothing is spared in terms of commentary, whether it’s in your face or hidden in some of his movie’s well-shot scenes and cuts, realized upon second viewing.

Bong Joon-ho does it yet again with his film adaptation of the book Mickey 7, albeit with a new addition to the title’s math. Because Bong wanted to kill off the main character 10 extra times; his words, not mine.

Not-So-Hidden Mickey

Mickey 17 is a scifi drama involving a regular joe named Mickey Barnes who ends up being an Expendable for a space colony/corporation to populate and habitat on the ice planet Niflheim. As an Expendable, he does all the dangerous jobs and when he bites it in typically gorey fashion, he gets “reprinted” using a 3D printer.

His past memories are also given to his subsequent copy (via a hard drive literally shaped like a brick, showing off the story’s subtle-as-a-sledgehammer approach), so each clone either ends up a little wiser, a little dumber, a little more cautious, or even more sinister with each iteration. And when it turns out there are two Mickeys on the ship, disaster soon follows as the show addresses it in dark comedy fashion.

The space colony itself is run mostly by incompetents, yes-men, and gloryhounds, least of all “cult leader” and presidential candidate washout Kenneth Marshall and supportive/syncophant wife Ylfa, played respectively by Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette. The two really enjoyed their roles as really evil and cartoonish villains, to the point where you wonder how the ship can even reach its destination of snowy planet Niflheim without the two self-sabotaging their efforts. And subjugating the crew to his canned late-night TV show specials to “inspire” the crew when it’s just one big ego trip for him.

At the very least, Mickey has his competent girlfriend-slash-security-lead Nasha (Naomi Ackie) being the best and supportive person in his lives; you’d love to see how this relationship pans out when the two-clones-at-the-same-time situation eventually happens. While we experience the going-ons with Mickey’s situation, the fact that his best friend Timo (played by Steven Yeun) is not what he seems, he ends up in an icy situation which turns the show’s premise into what I would say is Bong’s callback to his classic films The Host and Okja; a hybrid theme organically flowing into the show while highlighting its themes of corporate culture, the ethics of human cloning, and colonization. All of these culminate in an escalating and fitting third act that really ties everything up together and in a satisfying manner.

Even with the amazing cinematography and shots, the show wouldn’t hold its own without Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of the Mickeys. His intonation, his sheepishness, and his gradual evolution in personality as the kills keep coming for him, he knocks it out of the park while delivering his monologues just fine, with some of his voicework somewhat similar to a younger Steve Buscemi in his heyday.

On Thin Ice

While some of its subplots could have benefitted from one or two more scenes for context and resolution, particularly one involving a soldier named Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei) and a few with the tiny scientist lady Dorothy (Patsy Ferran), this whole scifi package from Bong is a must-watch for 2025. If only to see multiple Robert Pattinsons getting killed by space stuff, nuclear gas, and all sorts of dangerous shenanigans while he dual roles between different kinds of Mickeys, there’s a lot more going on in this grim take on the current state of earthlings expanding beyond space, and the growing pains therein.

Final Score: 90/100