My quick rating – 7.1/10. Leave it to Bong Joon-Ho to take something as bizarre as a man repeatedly dying for his job and spin it into an emotionally resonant, darkly funny, and thought-provoking sci-fi tale. Mickey 17 blends satirical edge, bleak world-building, and existential reflection into a film that feels like Starship Troopers satire met Happy Death Day, with a little Snowpiercer snow and bite tossed in for good measure.
Robert Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, a self-proclaimed “expendable”—essentially, a human lab rat hired to perform deadly tasks that would kill a normal crew member. The catch? When he dies, the company 3D prints a new body and uploads his consciousness from a literal brick of a hard drive. He wakes up in the same world, same memories, same people around him—but a different iteration. Mickey 17 is just the latest in a long line of unfortunate regenerations, and it’s clear from early on: dying gets old quick.
What makes Mickey 17 so intriguing is how it unravels its premise. The futuristic setting is brutal and frigid, both in landscape and tone. The planet Mickey and his fellow colonists are trying to terraform is hostile, perpetually snowy, and home to mysterious life forms the humans derogatorily refer to as “creepers.” The real tension, however, comes from within: What makes a person unique if they can be replaced perfectly? Do you have a soul if your mind can be copied? And is Mickey the original—or just another version pretending he is?
Naomi Ackie adds a strong emotional backbone as Mickey’s girlfriend Nasha, who grounds the film with a much-needed reminder that colonization isn’t always heroism; it can be an invasion. Her character delivers one of the film’s most biting commentaries, subtly reframing the entire human mission as a form of intergalactic arrogance. She also provides one of the funnier moments in the film that I am sure many women will relate to (not going to spoil it for you).
The humor is sly and sharp, often reminiscent of Starship Troopers in the way it skewers bureaucracy, propaganda, and political absurdity. There’s even a heavy-handed but entertaining Trump satire that runs through much of the film’s leadership dynamic. Bong Joon-ho doesn’t shy away from layering the social commentary thick, but it rarely gets in the way of the plot’s propulsion.
If there’s one knock, it’s that the film juggles a few too many themes. The central moral quandary—about cloning, identity, and expendability—might have had more emotional weight if the “creepers” subplot hadn’t started to demand equal screen time. Still, Bong Joon-ho knows how to spin plates better than most, and Mickey 17 remains deeply entertaining even when its focus wavers.
Weird, smart, funny, and strangely heartfelt—Mickey 17 is another home run from Bong Joon-ho, and a sci-fi film that earns its place among the more daring genre entries in recent memory.
You can still catch this one at the theater, along with Amazon and these streamers, at a similar price.