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Mickey’s predicament — but not entirely

Published: 04 Mar. 2025, 00:02

Lee Hoo-nam

The author is a senior culture reporter at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Work is a peculiar thing. Whether it’s due to a sense of responsibility, stress or the significance of a given task, we often feel as if everything would fall apart without us. Yet, as seasoned professionals soon learn, the reality is quite the opposite. At the same time, the idea that any one of us could be instantly and seamlessly replaced is an unsettling one. As anyone who has done the work knows, it is never that simple — whether one is an ordinary employee or even the president.

Bong Joon-ho’s latest film, “Mickey 17,” can be viewed as a science-fiction exploration of this very nature of work. Mickey (Robert Pattinson) exists in a future where all his memories are stored within a brick-sized device that resembles an actual brick. His body is reprinted from recycled material by a medical-device-like machine every time he dies. This is not the utopian promise of immortality — quite the opposite. As a member of an interplanetary expedition, Mickey has already died 16 times performing high-risk, life-threatening tasks. Yet, despite his sacrifices, he is not treated with reverence. As the film’s dark humor highlights, his deaths and reprintings are taken as routine. His job title? “Expendable.”

And yet, Mickey is far too cheerful to be the tragic protagonist of a dystopian nightmare. A failed macaron shop co-owner who took on this extreme job to escape loan sharks, he is neither ambitious nor vengeful. Unlike those who deflect blame onto others, he tends to criticize himself first. One of the film’s more intriguing aspects is how each reincarnation of Mickey has a distinct personality — despite sharing the same body and memories. After all, even in the workplace, we experience shifts in mood; some days we brim with confidence, while others we feel deflated over trivial setbacks. No matter how monotonous a task, it can never fully erase the individuality of the person performing it.

Still from director Bong Joon-ho's latest film ″Mickey 17″ [WARNER BROS. KOREA]

But things take a turn when the 17th Mickey manages to survive a fatal mission. His return coincides with the printing of an 18th Mickey, violating the fundamental rule of his existence: there can never be two of him at once. In a world that grants him renewal instead of immortality, the consequence is absolute eradication.

Like its protagonist, the film unfolds with an air of levity. The absurd back-and-forth between the colony’s ruling couple (played by Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette) is a highlight. Despite being in English, "Mickey 17" unmistakably bears Bong Joon-ho’s signature style, evoking memories of his previous works. Given this, it’s no surprise that the film subverts conventional dystopian sci-fi tropes. Personally, I found relief in the fact that Mickey is not met with a cruel and devastating fate. After all, there is already enough horror and brutality beyond the cinema doors.

Ultimately, the film reminds us that neither dystopias nor utopias are shaped by technology alone. The same applies to our reality. Humanity’s future — including the future of work — will be determined not by machines, but by people, power structures and the systems we create.

Translated using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.