Mickey 17 is the eighth characteristic movie by director Bong Joon-Ho, following his Finest Image and Palme d’Or-winning thriller Parasite in 2019. For sure, expectations for Mickey 17 have been excessive, solely exacerbated by the movie’s star-studded forged, which incorporates the likes of Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, and extra. If the film’s associates weren’t sufficient to generate invariable curiosity and hype, followers felt like they had been seeing quadruple when the discharge date of Mickey 17 was modified 4 occasions earlier than lastly touchdown on March 7, 2025. Whereas it was revealed in early promos that the sci-fi plot concerned “human reprints” and roly-poly-type aliens, a lot of the particulars had been saved beneath wraps.
Properly, Mickey 17 has lastly arrived after premiering to appreciable reward on the Worldwide Berlin Movie Pageant final month. In typical Joon-Ho fashion, it’s
jam-packed with thrilling twists and salient social commentary.
There’s loads to unpack about Mickey 17, however to begin, here is methods to make sense of the ending and tie it again to the movie’s bigger messaging (so long as you promise to not copy us).
Oh Mickey, You are So Not Wonderful?
The yr is 2054. Mickey Barnes (Pattinson) decides to change into an “Expendable”
after he and his greatest pal, Timo (Yeun),
get into life-threatening hassle with a mortgage shark. Expendables are basically human lab rats. Outfitted with the expertise to regenerate those that have died with a form of biological-printer, divisive and eccentric politician Kenneth Marshall (Ruffalo) funds an area colony the place scientists run checks on these Expendables. Having change into a human rights difficulty, it’s now unlawful to create or run checks on Expendables on earth. Many individuals and avid supporters of Marshall stay on this spaceship, which is in the end getting down to colonize a planet known as Nilfheim and set up a “pure” society.
Thus, in pursuit of that society and “science,” Mickey is killed time and time once more on the spaceship and on totally different planets in grotesque methods: he’s uncovered to deadly viruses and radiation, dropped into pits of fireplace, and extra. The one factor that makes his (actually) painful existence worthwhile is
the connection he feels with Nasha (Ackie)
, a safety agent who additionally lives on the ship. The 2 fall deeply in love regardless of the regimented nature of the ship, together with the tried rationing of their meals consumption and sexual exercise.
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Eat Your Coronary heart Out, Child Yoda
Now, Mickey is on his seventeenth life (therefore, Mickey 17). Once they landed on Nilfheim, an alien species of large bugs on the planet prevented full colonization and had been not directly accountable for the demise of an agent. Mickey 17 is consequently assigned to gather information on these area bugs, deemed “creepers” by Marshall.
They’re tremendous cute, thoughts you.
Mickey 17 totally expects his subsequent demise to return when he’s head to head with the mom creeper. Nevertheless, when Mickey wakes up disoriented, the creepers are literally lifting him to security.
Nevertheless, when Mickey 17 returns to the ship, he finds Mickey 18 in his room. Seems that the crew had already regenerated him, assuming Mickey 17 had died. It is a huge downside, as a result of “multiples”, because the movie calls them, are strictly towards protocol following a previous murderous incident. Mickey 17 and Mickey 18, thus, instantly activate one another, figuring out that if they’re each discovered, they are going to be killed.
The 2 Mickeys have disparate personalities.
Whereas 17 is gentle-mannered and tries to barter, 18 is aggressive and solely desires to struggle to the demise. When their brawl is interrupted, 18 accompanies Nasha again to her quarters, a lot to 17’s chagrin. 17, in the meantime, is pressured to attend a particular dinner with Marshall and his sauce-obsessed spouse, Ylfa (Collette), the place he’s given steak that accommodates toxic micro organism for one more trial, inflicting him to develop extremely unwell and beg for his life. Mickey 17 returns to his room, and when 18 finds out what occurred on the dinner, he units out to kill Marshall.
Clones, Creepers, Corruption, Oh My!
Nasha and Mickey 17 race to cease 18, who intends to shoot
Marshall whereas he provides a speech to adoring followers.
Marshall is unveiling his new shiny Nilfheim rock, which he plans to make use of for some grasping evil objective. Unexpectedly, creepers emerge from the rock, and pandemonium erupts. A Marshall supporter tackles Mickey 18 and his gun to the bottom, and Nasha and Mickey 17 find yourself entangled within the mess. The scientists handle to bag one child creeper for analysis and the gang opens fireplace on one other child creeper, killing it.
The Mickeys are found as multiples, they usually and Nasha are arrested. Quickly, a swarm of creepers begins to encompass the ship because the kidnapped child creeper calls out to them. Marshall intends to extinguish the creepers with the identical poisonous gasoline that was examined on Mickey. From their cells, crucially, Mickey 17 and Nasha
notice that the creepers should be non-violent
creatures.
Marshall and Ylfa resolve to permit Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 to enterprise out right into a raging snowstorm to compete for his or her lives. Whoever will get essentially the most creeper tails wins. As a substitute, Mickey 17 takes the chance to warn the mom creeper (who’s hovering close to the ship) utilizing a brand new translation gadget. She tells Mickey 17 that she and the creepers are there as a result of they’re upset concerning the demise of her son, and if her different child dies (the one they’ve for analysis), they are going to emit a high-pitched sound that can make your complete human race’s brains and eyeballs explode.
Mickey 17 sends a message to Nasha, and she or he manages to save lots of the newborn creeper and ship it to the mom. Marshall, angered by the obvious dialog Mickey 17 appears to be having with an alien, decides to exit into the storm himself. Mickey 18 seizes the chance to assault Marshall, detonating a bomb on his chest that kills them each.
Ending Defined: Mickey’s Dream
Six months later, Nasha has change into a councilperson for the colony. Ylfa was reported to have died the day after Marshall. Nasha and Mickey 17 have made progress towards the termination of the Expendables program. Everybody gathers for a ceremony wherein they are going to formally destroy the printer they used to create Expendables. As Mickey 17 listens to Nasha give a speech,
he dozes off and goals that Ylfa
has been regenerated and is utilizing the printing machine to regenerate Marshall. As she does, she spills indeterminate purple “sauce” far and wide, and begs Mickey 17 to style it. She refuses to expose what’s within the sauce. Then, simply earlier than he wakes up, it’s revealed that Ylfa has slit her wrists and closely implied the sauce was blood. When Mickey 17 wakes up, all of his family members encourage him to
press the button that can blow up the machine
. It bursts into flames.
Mickey 17 is overwhelmingly topical and wealthy with subtext. After all, that doesn’t stop it from being darkly hilarious or a ton of enjoyable, a steadiness that Joon-Ho has at all times mastered with grace. In terms of explaining Mickey 17‘s ending, nevertheless, and scenes like Mickey’s dream, there’s a lot to say. Allow us to begin with the “sauciest” factor. It’s no secret that Mickey 17 is a blatant satire of the present political panorama, notably of American politics and colonialism. Marshall is a really apparent caricature of a sure political determine, and far of the area expertise side of the movie echoes present goings-on. There’s a smorgasbord of titillating themes inside Mickey 17 to discover and uncover, however on only a first watch, it reads as a take-down of the disposability of human capital. Mickey 17 can also be equal elements concerning the surroundings, capitalism, white supremacy, and extra. On high of all of that, it is deeply foolish.
Movie fanatics could have caught the Wilhelm scream
, for instance. All this goes to say, you possibly can spend hours unpacking simply this brief however dense dream sequence between Ylfa and Mickey, which accommodates hints of all of those themes.
You will need to keep in mind that Mickey, as a personality, harbors loads of guilt over the demise of his mom, which he believes to be his fault as a result of he pressed a purple button throughout a automobile trip. On the finish, the detonation that can destroy the printer is on the opposite aspect of a purple button. Within the moments earlier than he’s confronted with the daunting job of urgent this button, he has this dream. Why does he dream about Ylfa and Marshall? Maybe it’s as a result of they had been the supply of a lot unimaginable ache for him for thus a few years. Probably, part of him is scared that such a strong monolith of political energy (
one that’s backed by crazed followers in purple hats
) might ever actually be gone, even when they do destroy the one factor that might give them one other life. Probably, he’s most scared somebody similar to him will come alongside. There may be even an opportunity that the mild-mannered Mickey, after every thing, feels a level of remorse.
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Regardless of the purpose could also be, the sauce that Ylfa gives Mickey clearly serves as an emblem of sophistication and the disregard for her personal ache. All through Mickey 17, Ylfa is consistently
referencing her sauces as if they’re the utmost delicacy.
At one level, she makes a sauce out of a child creeper’s tail. She states that it could be an honor for Mickey to strive her blood sauce. Ylfa and her husband care far more about their enjoyment, wealth, and consumption than they do different dwelling issues. With no regard for one more creature’s ache, the sauces tie very carefully to Mickey 17’s factors concerning the exploitation of life in medical trials, greed, and colonialization. Mickey has to confront this inside demon first, however then, reminded, he’s free to push that purple button.
“Mickey Barnes”
The final visible on display screen earlier than the credit roll is the altering of a title card that reads “Mickey 17” to at least one that reads “Mickey Barnes”. By demolishing the human printer, Mickey reclaims his autonomy not as “expendable”, however as a mortal, singular human being.
He isn’t the seventeenth model of himself anymore
, however merely Mickey with all of his trauma, perception, and reminiscences. That is one final little little bit of commentary on simply how non-expendable human life and human employees are, by eradicating the dehumanizing digits and changing them together with his final identify.
For sure, Joon-Ho has finished it once more.
And once more. And once more.
Mickey 17 is now taking part in in theaters in all places.