MICKEY 17 - A Turning Point in Bong Joon-ho’s Cinema: a Fairy Tale of Solidarity and Hope

 In Bong Joon-ho’s films, we often encounter stories of class conflict, the violence produced in that process, and the marginalized lower-class characters who bear the brunt of it. The boy in Snowpiercer who dreams of revolution, the man in Parasite who is excluded from the capitalist system and lives hidden in a basement, and Okja, the pig raised to become a delicious food product, are all such examples. Mickey 17, too, follows in the footsteps of these previous works. In this film, the protagonist Mickey repeatedly faces death, and even his death is recycled for the sake of capital and systemic efficiency. This setting starkly exposes the reality of capitalism, which disregards human dignity and individuality, reducing people to mere tools and consumables.

However, this film fundamentally differs from Bong’s previous works in its ending. In his earlier films, the struggles of the socially disadvantaged are either crushed by the system or only manage to preserve a faint spark of hope. Parasite and Snowpiercer both end by depicting the helplessness of the lower class, who can never rise above their station. Okja offers a more hopeful ending, with Mija rescuing Okja, but still cannot save the countless other super pigs. Compared to these, Mickey 17’s conclusion—where the revolution succeeds and Mickey regains his agency as a human—seems almost optimistic. What, then, made such a warm, almost fairy-tale-like ending possible in Bong Joon-ho’s film?

From despair to Hope: Thematic Evolution 

Mickey is excessively passive and accepting of his circumstances. His low self-esteem and lack of agency seem to stem from past trauma and a sense of helplessness learned through repeated social experience. In the capitalist system of Mickey 17, labor is directly tied to human survival, but as profit and efficiency become the sole focus, people gradually lose the meaning and agency in their work. Human value is judged only by usefulness as a tool. Early in the film, when the Creeper saves Mickey 17, Mickey angrily asks why he was saved, insisting he isn’t “bad meat.” This reveals Mickey’s deep sense of helplessness and self-loathing, knowing that his existence is determined solely by his utility. As an unwanted “Expendable,” he must have felt utterly worthless—yet he is also angry at not even being used as meat. This shows that a desire for self-respect and recognition still lingers within him.

Throughout the film, the only reason Mickey is able to maintain his identity despite repeated deaths and reprinting is thanks to Nasha. She is almost the only character who truly loves Mickey, not judging him by his usefulness but accepting him as he is. Nasha stays by his side through every death, sincerely trying to comfort him, and loves him regardless of which iteration he is. Without Nasha, Mickey would have been utterly destroyed, alienated from the value of human dignity. As Bong Joon-ho noted in an interview, the love story between Mickey and Nasha is the backbone of this film.

With Nasha’s love as his support, Mickey grows further when he meets another version of himself, Mickey 18. Mickey has lived with the trauma of believing he caused the car accident that killed his family. As a result, he fears making choices and taking action, instead conforming to the system. The scene where Mickey 18 comforts Mickey 17, saying “It’s not your fault,” marks a moment of self-forgiveness and acceptance, and becomes the starting point for Mickey to make his own choices and take responsibility. By comforting Mickey 17, Mickey 18 not only frees him from the past but also shows what values must be upheld to remain human, not just a tool. Right before dying with Marshal, Mickey 18 is asked if he fears death, and Marshal says that fear is what makes one truly alive. But Mickey 18 replies that humans do not exist just to breathe; they are alive when they can live as humans. Looking at Mickey 17 and Nasha, he says that humans exist for loving relationships, and the will to protect them can overcome even death.

Empowered by this love, Mickey is able to make choices—such as destroying the printer (the cloning machine)—and calmly accept the consequences. The nightmare in which Marshal’s wife reprints Marshal shows Mickey’s lingering anxiety and the persistent structural violence of capitalist society. However, as Mickey 17 says “fuck off” and wakes from the dream, it’s clear that he has grown enough not to submit anymore, no matter how many Marshals appear. Thus, the film ends with Mickey, no longer Mickey 17 or 18, but Mickey Barnes, having regained his humanity.

In this film, love does not stop at individual growth but extends to other species as well. On the alien planet, there are native creatures called Creepers, who are very different from humans. Unlike humans, who use the repeated deaths of one person for their own safety, the entire Creeper species comes together to save a single baby Creeper. The perspective of Nasha and the Mickeys, who see and love each other as they are, extends to the Creepers as well. Thus, instead of seeing them as alien enemies, they communicate and rescue the baby Creeper as a precious life, seeking peaceful coexistence.

Communication: The Engine of Change

Mickey’s revolution succeeds, the printer is destroyed through democratic procedures and consensus, the baby Creeper is rescued, and humans and Creepers find a way to coexist peacefully on the alien planet. Compared to Bong Joon-ho’s previous films, this is a particularly hopeful and happy ending. What made such an ending possible? I believe the answer lies in “communication.”

In Bong Joon-ho’s films, the presence or absence of communication between characters has a decisive impact on the story. In Parasite, the most unequal aspect between the upper and lower classes is communication. Ki-taek’s family has to hold their phone high in the semi-basement just to get a Wi-Fi signal. Communication is always a command from the upper class to the lower, never flowing upward. Morse code messages from those living in the rich house on the hill are never delivered to the outside world. Even among lower-class families, had they communicated, coexistence might have been possible, but instead, they only fought to protect their own positions. In Okja, even though Okja is rescued, Okja and Mija are completely isolated from the world, communicating only in their own way. Even the ALF members, supposedly on their side, misunderstand Mija’s intentions. In Mickey 17, the powerful Marshal uses the translator only to glorify his own authority, ignoring the possibility of communication and planning to exterminate all Creepers with gas. However, Mickey and Nasha are different. The scene where Mama Creeper and Mickey communicate through a translator, or when Nasha and Mickey use their own secret language to rescue the baby Creeper, plays a decisive role in resolving the conflict. The fact that their secret code is based on their physical love further strengthens the link between love and communication. In this way, communication becomes the starting point and means for mutual understanding and solidarity, leading the film toward a brighter and warmer conclusion.

Narrative Weaknesses and Allegorical Focus

Despite focusing on love and Mickey’s personal growth, the film feels somewhat flat and one-dimensional compared to Bong Joon-ho’s previous works. This does not mean the themes are simple; rather, as the BBC noted, the film contains so many ideas that it’s hard to find a clear direction or depth. Why, despite being Bong’s latest work and one that constantly recalls his previous films, does it leave such an impression?

First, the characters feel linear and functionally used to symbolize specific ideas. For example, the love between Nasha and Mickey seems to exist only to demonstrate the importance of love for Mickey’s growth and problem-solving, rather than convincingly portraying the depth of their relationship. The way their love is portrayed makes it seem superficial. When Mickey becomes both Mickey 17 and Mickey 18, a crucial event, the scene where Nasha, high on the drug “oxyzophl,” easily accepts the two Mickeys is confusing. Is it because she truly loves Mickey regardless of which version he is, or is it just the effect of the drug? The film misses an opportunity to deepen the audience’s empathy for their relationship. Here, Nasha is not a character with a distinct identity, but rather serves as Mickey’s lover and companion. Although Nasha stays by Mickey’s side as he dies in the lab, this scene feels like it’s included just to emphasize their love, without sufficient narrative buildup.

Mickey’s love being easily shaken by Kyra also undermines the strength of his relationship with Nasha. While Kyra uses Mickey’s cloning for her own instrumental desires, the fact that Mickey is nearly swayed into a physical relationship with her weakens the impression of his love for Nasha.

Secondly, while the film contains many themes and points for reflection, it often avoids taking a stance or providing answers, instead using them as light satire, which disperses the main narrative. This seems to be because the film places more weight on satire and allegory than on realistic narrative or psychological depth. Mickey 17 deals with vast themes such as class exploitation, labor as a consumable, colonialism, dictatorship, and the side effects of technological advancement, but rather than delving deeply into each issue, it quickly shifts between topics in an allegorical manner. In this process, the story sometimes becomes overly condensed or unrealistic. The resolution of key conflicts often relies on sudden devices like the translator, or on the abrupt consensus of people who were previously under a dictatorship, which strains plausibility. These narrative leaps can make it hard for viewers to immerse themselves in the film. The plot also feels scattered, making it difficult to focus on the main storyline. The film begins with the existential question of clones, then focuses on satire of class and capitalism, and finally returns to Mickey’s personal growth. This frequent shifting of focus makes the plot feel disjointed, with some scenes appearing unnecessary.

In conclusion, Mickey 17 goes beyond the structural helplessness, frustration, and tragedy of the marginalized lower class depicted in Bong Joon-ho’s previous works, and instead presents a new possibility of recovering humanity and agency through love, solidarity, and communication. Mickey breaks the cycle of repeated death and consumption, and through his love with Nasha, solidarity with Mickey 18, and communication with the Creepers, he realizes that he is not just a clone, but an independent being. In this process, the film emphasizes human dignity and individuality, coexistence with others, and above all, the power of communication. However, at the same time, the film’s attempt to encompass a vast array of themes, symbols, and allegorical devices leaves something to be desired in terms of narrative cohesion and psychological persuasion. The resolution of key conflicts sometimes relies on allegorical devices or convenient developments, the main narrative is dispersed, and some characters’ emotional arcs are not fully developed, which can hinder viewer immersion. Nevertheless, Mickey 17 stands as a new turning point in Bong Joon-ho’s cinematic world, meaningful in that it presents the possibility of change and hope instead of despair.