“Oh, sauce is the true litmus test of civilization!”

Genre: Offbeat Sci-Fi Social Critique
Release Date: 2025
Where I Watched: HBOMAX

Gist: Mickey Barnes is a guy whose whole life seems to have been one bad decision after another. So when he gets in deep with a loan shark – who knew macarons wouldn’t become the next hamburger – he and his friend Timo get sent to Niflheim, a hot new planet/colony four years away by spaceship. Timo becomes a pilot, but Mickey? He’s an Expendable; someone whose sole purpose is to die and get re-cloned over and over again, so the colony can avoid pesky things like viruses and space death. But hey, he’s got a girlfriend! And this new planet has aliens that are definitely not humanoid! So that’s cool, right? Is our dinner Soylent Green? Sure looks like it.

Gotta say: Robert Pattinson and Bong Joon Ho is a match made in surrealist comedy heaven. Add in Toni Collette and Steven Yeun and Mark Ruffalo hamming their asses off, and boom. You get one hell of a wild ride. If, like me, you missed this at the multiplex, now’s the perfect time to catch it from the comfort of your own sofa. In this year filled with absolute craziness in real life? 17‘s look at fanatical devotion of one’s leaders feels like dramatic realism. With aliens. Well, we don’t have aliens here. OR DO WE? [Pauses for effect. Hears crickets.]

While the marketing for 17 pushed the Parasite connection, this feels more like Okja in terms of surrealistic comedy. All three of these films have Bong’s biting social commentary that sinks into your skin with a slyness you’ll unpack days and weeks later. But as with Okja, 17 has a heaping helping of futuristic spectacle that is bizarre yet oddly believable. There are power-hungry leaders, low-rung nobodies, and a load of BS used by the former to keep the latter in line. Yes, there are also parallels to Snowpiercer here; Bong is nothing if not skillful at the art of injecting hard-hitting commentary into his satirical stories. Don’t get my Norse mythology-loving self started on how he used Niflheim, the mythological land of ice and mist (and later the world of Hel/Hell her/itself) as the planet/colony the characters are on. Not exactly the paradise promised, amirite?

Pattinson’s physical comedy is wonderful, and the way he sinks into this role is an absolute delight to watch. Plus, I sincerely believe that one of the requirements for him to accept a role is his ability to make up an ever-so-slightly bonkers accent for his character. One that’s just shy of being overblown, yet always has you wondering how in the hell he kept a straight face while performing. As Mickey’s girlfriend/BFF Natasha, Naomi Ackie delivers another performance that’s subtle yet dynamic. (See also: I Wanna Dance With Somebody) Special shout-out to both Ruffalo and Colette as the Marshalls, the absolutely insane religious zealots who are leading the colonization of Niflheim. They play off each other beautifully, and while Colette seems to need going off the leash like oxygen itself, Ruffalo manages to keep up with a blend of self-congratulatory pomposity that bookends his character’s wife beautifully.

You’ll watch the end credits scroll by thinking about the state of our society, the have/have not equation, and exactly how you can get yourself one of those adorable, tardigrade-esque Creeper aliens. That last one just me? Nah, I didn’t think so.

Come for: Yet another banger from Bong Joon Ho.
Stay for: Adorable tartigrade creatures you will absolutely fall in love with if you have even a shred of love in your heart.