After the massive success of Parasite in 2019, Bong Joon Ho has returned with Mickey 17. This new film brings together elements from two of his previous movies, Snowpiercer and Okja.
The story features a frozen, dystopian world similar to Snowpiercer, while also introducing strange, large creatures that the wealthy want to consume, just like in Okja. Bong’s sharp criticism of capitalism remains strong in this movie, presented in a way that suits a bigger-budget film.
The main character, Mickey (played by Robert Pattinson), works as an “expendable.” His job is to handle the most dangerous tasks during a journey to the distant planet Niflheim. Every time he dies, he is recreated through a process called “reprinting.”
However, when he unexpectedly survives a mission, he meets Mickey 18, his next copy. The colony has strict rules against two versions of the same person existing at the same time. This meeting sets off a chain of events that changes everything.
Also Read: Everything You Need to Know About Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17: Cast, Plot, Release, and More
Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 Meet the Colony Leader, Leading to Chaos
Mickey 17 was supposed to die on a scouting mission, but the creatures of Niflheim, known as “creepers,” save him instead. These beings resemble large, intelligent tardigrades with furry bodies. Their existence threatens the plans of Kenneth Marshall (played by Mark Ruffalo), a billionaire politician who wants to colonize the icy planet.
To protect himself and Mickey 17, Mickey 18 decides to take drastic action. During a public ceremony, he attempts to assassinate Marshall. At the same event, a rock from Niflheim is revealed to contain two baby creepers. The first one, Luko, is brutally killed.
The second one, Zoco, is captured by Marshall’s wife, Yifa (played by Toni Collette), who wants to experiment on it. As a result, Mickeys 17 and 18, along with their girlfriend Nasha (played by Naomi Ackie), are all captured and imprisoned.
While locked up, the trio realizes that the creepers are not actually hostile. They try to convince the colony leadership that peaceful coexistence is possible. However, Marshall refuses to listen and instead orders the extermination of all creepers.
Yifa persuades him to send the Mickeys on a cruel mission—to cut off the creepers’ tails so she can use their meat in her cooking. To ensure they follow orders, Marshall erases the Mickeys’ memories from their storage system. This means that if they die and are reprinted, they will have no past memories.
Outside the colony, the Mickeys manage to use a translator device to communicate with the creeper mother. She has surrounded the colony with her children and demands justice for Luko’s death.
She insists that a human must die as repayment and threatens to destroy the entire colony if Zoco is not returned. Instead of working toward peace, Marshall sees the negotiations as a betrayal. He gathers a team and sets out to kill all the creepers himself.
A Fierce Battle Decides the Future of Niflheim
As Marshall leads his soldiers against the creepers, the creatures fight back using clever tactics to confuse their enemies. Meanwhile, Mickey 17 secretly contacts Nasha, who successfully rescues Zoco from Yifa. At the same time, a group of colony council members turns against Marshall and Yifa. They arrest Yifa and take control of the colony.
Outside, Mickey 18 confronts Marshall in a final battle. Their fight ends with an explosion that kills them both. With Marshall gone, the promise to the creeper mother is fulfilled.
Nasha safely returns Zoco to its mother, and the creepers withdraw. The conflict ends with a new balance between the humans and the creepers. The real threat all along was Marshall, whose selfish ambitions nearly led to destruction.
Mickey Finds a New Identity as the Colony Adapts to Change
Six months pass after the battle, and Niflheim experiences the arrival of spring. The season remains cold, but life in the colony has improved significantly. Without Marshall’s rule, humans and creepers now live in peace.
Nasha becomes a council member, working hard to create a better future for everyone. Thanks to her leadership, the expendable program is officially shut down, and the colony begins to thrive.
Mickey 17, no longer treated as an expendable, now goes by the name Mickey Barnes. During a ceremony celebrating these changes, the creeper mother reveals a surprising truth. She admits that her earlier threat to destroy the colony was just a bluff. The creepers never had the power to wipe out the humans, but her deception helped them achieve fairness.
At the ceremony, Mickey experiences a strange moment. He remembers encountering Yifa and Marshall again, but this vision turns out to be a dream. In the dream, Yifa reprints her husband and plans to print more creepers, claiming she has perfected a sauce made from them.
The dream scene is filled with eerie symbolism. For example, the “sauce” is actually blood dripping from Yifa’s hand. The couple’s true goal is to achieve immortality by constantly reprinting themselves.
Mickey suddenly wakes up and realizes it was only a dream. The colony has moved on, and no one would want Marshall and Yifa back. In a symbolic act, Mickey is given the remote to destroy the printer, officially ending the expendable program. This moment represents the colony’s progress and the end of unethical practices.
The planet is still harsh and freezing, but the future now holds hope. Humans and creepers can finally coexist without oppression, and Mickey is free to live as his own person.
After Parasite’s success, Bong Joon Ho returns with Mickey 17, a sci-fi thriller blending elements of Snowpiercer and Okja. The story follows Mickey (Robert Pattinson), an “expendable” worker on planet Niflheim, who is reprinted after each death.
When he survives unexpectedly, he meets his next copy, Mickey 18, which sparks chaos. The colony leader, Kenneth Marshall, seeks to exterminate Niflheim’s creatures, but Mickeys 17 and 18 fight back.
With Marshall’s downfall, the colony embraces peace with the creatures. Mickey finally gains his own identity, ending the expendable program, and Niflheim’s future looks brighter for both humans and native beings.
