One of the first films of 2025 I am excited to see is the science fiction comedy Mickey 17 coming early this spring.
The film from Parasite director Bong Joon Ho stars Robert Pattinson in the title role (or roles), as a Mickey Barnes, an Earth guy who wants to leave the planet so bad he signs up as an “expendable”. His new job as a disposable person has him dying again and again (for the good of society, of course), with a new version created with each death. Unfortunately, some sort of glitch occurs and he runs into a new version of him before the death of an earlier one.
It’s based on the 2022 sci fi novel Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton, and the cast includes Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, and Naomi Ackie. However, this is really Pattinson’s time to show of his comic chops.
Now, the first thing I thought when I saw this trailer was it looks fantastic and hilarious. My second thought was how much I am appreciating Robert Pattinson as an actor more and more. But the third thing was, “where have I seen this before?”
There have been a couple of stories with similar premises that immediately popped to mind, because the commentary of the “expendable human” has been around for a long time. Stories of war and dystopian futures address who is “essential” and even others come closer by tackling the issue of cloning.
While you are waiting for Mickey 17 to hit theatres, give these stories a try:
Moon
There have already been quite a few comparisons to this 2009 drama that is pretty much a “one man” show starring Sam Rockwell. It is not by any means a comedy like Mickey 17, but deals with the plight of the expendable clone, particularly when you don’t know you are one. If you want to see some amazing acting from Rockwell and get a little teary eyed, give it a shot.
Secret Level Episode 9. The Outer Worlds: The Company We Keep
Amazon Prime debuted its video game based anthology series Secret Level in December, and like many series with stand-alone stories, there are some great ones and others that are frankly, “meh”. One of the more unsettling yet funny is based on video gameThe Outer Worlds. The game itself is from some of the creators of Fallout, so the world-building is excellent. In this show, we look closely at an NPC-type, Amos, and his adventure. Following his heart and the girl he loves, he takes on a job testing products at a mega corporation. Even while they take his body from him little by little, his humanity remains.
Blade Runner
Despite having a high-budget sequel the original 1982 sci-fi noir Blade Runner from Ridley Scott is the best to delve into this world of what makes a human human. For those who haven’t seen it, it deals with a world where “replicants,” bioengineered humans, are used in high risk off world situations that may be dangerous to “real” humans. It is good to see Harrison Ford back before he became a grumpy old man. It also has one of the coolest saddest moments by “replicant” Rutger Hauer before he expires. Here’s something trippy: this film is set in 2019.
I do recommend giving the 2017 anime short Blade Runner Black Out 2022 a watch as well.
Mickey 17 comes to theatres in the United States on March 7 from Warner Bros. Pictures, after it makes its film festival premiere in February and South Korean debut on Feb. 28.