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I’ve been looking forward to Mickey 17 for a while. In fact, it became one of my most anticipated upcoming films even before I knew what it was about. When I learned the movie was being made by Bong Joon Ho, the man behind the 2019 hit Parasite, I immediately put it on my must-watch list. This guy has been making amazing genre films for over two decades (if you’ve only seen Parasite, I highly recommend checking out his other work; you won’t be disappointed), so I’ll watch anything he does. I couldn’t wait to see this darkly comedic sci-fi adventure, and now that I finally have, I’m happy to report that it does not disappoint.
Mickey 17 was written and directed by Bong Joon Ho, and it stars Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. In the film, the titular Mickey is in a unique line of work. His job is to die. Repeatedly. See, in this world, humanity has perfected its cloning technology, so if someone’s desperate enough, they can become an expendable. These are people, like Mickey, whose job is to be experimented on and perform jobs so dangerous they’re essentially suicide missions, and every time they die, their employer simply prints them a new body, complete with their memories and personality. But one day, something goes wrong. Mickey’s seventeenth iteration (hence the name Mickey 17) doesn’t die like he’s supposed to, so when the company creates another clone, they end up with two Mickeys simultaneously. This is a big taboo, so Mickey 17 has to keep his existence a secret for as long as possible. But of course, that’s easier said than done. He doesn’t stay in the shadows for long, and soon enough, the two Mickeys find themselves at the center of a potentially catastrophic encounter between humanity and an otherworldly species that can only be described as giant roly-polies. Like any movie, Mickey 17 relies heavily on the strength of its characters, and to be honest, they’re a bit of a mixed bag. Let’s start with the negatives. The primary antagonist of this film is Kenneth Marshall, a conniving, evil politician who hides his dastardly plans behind a hypocritical facade of Christian faith, and he’s about as flat as they come. If you close your eyes and just listen to his dialogue, you’d almost certainly picture him twirling his mustache every time he opens his mouth, and to make matters worse, actor Mark Ruffalo plays the part like a bad Donald Trump impersonation. He even purses his lips when he speaks, so if you enjoy overly on-the-nose political commentary, you’re going to love this guy. But if you’re like me and you prefer it when filmmakers at least try to be a bit subtle, this character is just going to make you roll your eyes every time he’s on screen. Along similar lines, Marshall’s wife, Ylfa, is just as one-dimensional and over the top as her husband, so the two make for one of the most uninteresting villain duos I’ve seen in a while. There’s just nothing to these characters beyond their propensity for evil, so if you ask me, they feel more like walking plot points than real, flesh-and-blood human beings. It’s a huge character misstep that essentially lays the weight of this story entirely on the good guys’ shoulders, and in a lot of movies, that would be fatal. But not here. Mickey 17 manages to avoid that pitfall, and the film’s biggest saving grace is Robert Pattinson’s amazing dual performance. He plays all the Mickey variants, but of course, Mickeys 17 and 18 are the stars of the show. Interestingly, most of these characters are very similar, almost indistinguishable in fact, but when Mickey 18 comes on the scene, he’s different. The movie doesn’t explain why, so if you’re looking for pinpoint logical precision, that minor plot hole is probably going to bother you. But if you can forgive slight transgressions like that, you’ll realize it’s actually for the best. By making these two versions of Mickey so different, Pattinson gets to show off his incredible range as an actor, and it’s an absolute joy to behold. The titular Mickey 17 is a timid, weak, somewhat awkward fellow, but Mickey 18 carries himself with a confident, almost arrogant bad-boy swagger. Everything about these characters, from the way they talk to their facial expressions and even the way they stand, is different, so if you didn’t know any better, you’d never think they were two versions of the same person. It’s a bit reminiscent of James McAvoy’s performances in Split and Glass, but by focusing on only two personalities, Pattinson is able to explore them in greater depth. That impressive display of acting dexterity just about carries Mickey 17, but it’s not the only thing this film has going for it. The rest of the cast is pretty good too (aside from the villains, of course), and the dark humor adds a really nice touch that keeps the story’s weighty themes from becoming too oppressive. As you can probably guess from the premise, this movie deals with death and the natural human fear of dying, so without the jokes, the experience would become very drab very quickly. But thankfully, it never does, so these heavy ideas go down much more smoothly than you might expect. On top of that, the overall message of Mickey 17 is also quite admirable. I can’t talk about it too much without giving away some key plot points, but suffice it to say that this film ultimately highlights the inalienable value of every human being. The story’s cloning technology naturally raises questions about personal identity and the possibility of overcoming death with science, but that’s little more than philosophical window dressing. Sure, those are interesting ideas to explore, but at its core, the seemingly endless succession of Mickey clones is an allegory for the ways our world (and especially those in power) often treats human life as expendable. All too often, people like Kenneth Marshall and his wife only care about advancing their own goals and interests, and they show absolutely no concern for the pain and destruction they leave in their wake. As long as it benefits them, they have no qualms about hurting or even killing those they consider expendable, and this story makes the ugliness of that attitude impossible to miss. It’s a message all people of good will can get behind, and when you combine it with Robert Pattinson’s amazing dual performance and the fun comedy, you get a great time at the theater. To be fair, the weak villains keep this movie from being one of Bong Joon Ho’s best, but a mid-tier entry in this guy’s filmography is still enough to earn a hearty thumbs up from me.
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If you’re a documentary aficionado, the title Last Breath might sound familiar to you. Back in 2019, there was a documentary with that name about a harrowing deep-sea rescue, and now, one of the directors behind it has turned the story into a feature film. I haven’t seen that documentary myself, but it was generally well received (according to Rotten Tomatoes), so I was interested to see this fictionalized version of the tale. Granted, I wasn’t sure if it would be any good, but the premise sounded interesting enough, so I decided to give this movie a shot.
Last Breath was directed and co-written by Alex Parkinson, and it stars Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, and Finn Cole as Duncan, Dave, and Chris, three men with one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet. They’re saturation divers, which means they travel to the bottom of the sea to work on undersea pipelines. On this particular dive, the trio head to the bottom of the North Sea, but soon after they begin working, something terrible happens. The ship that lowers them down gets caught in a horrible storm, and Chris’s connection to the diving vessel snaps. He gets stranded 1,000 feet below sea level, and his teammates have to do everything possible to rescue him before it’s too late. As you can probably guess from that plot synopsis, Last Breath is a thrill-a-minute pressure cooker, but it doesn’t start out that way. The film actually spends about a half hour establishing its major players and introducing us to their harrowing profession, and that time is supposed to help viewers forge an emotional connection with these characters before the story begins in earnest. Unfortunately though, it doesn’t entirely work. To be fair, the three lead stars do an admirable job with the material they’re given. Finn Cole is the charismatic nice guy you can’t help but like, Simu Liu exudes a silent strength that shines despite his sparse dialogue, and Woody Harrelson has the characteristically playful, almost whimsical demeanor that makes him such a beloved movie star. But despite those solid performances, Last Breath still struggles on this front. The film just doesn’t develop its main trio beyond their one-line descriptions, so all three of these men end up feeling a bit more like cliched stereotypes than real, flesh-and-blood human beings. Those thinly drawn characterizations make it difficult for us to care about these guys, so the story has to work extra hard to get us invested. In most films, that flaw would be nearly fatal, but somehow, Last Breath manages to overcome it. Once Chris’s connection snaps, this movie becomes the nonstop thrill ride we all expected. Just about everything that can go wrong does go wrong, so Duncan, Dave, and the ship’s crew have to pull out all the stops to rescue their lost comrade. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t entirely sure if director Alex Parkinson would be able to maintain that tension long enough to sustain an entire feature film, but he somehow pulls it off. The suspense lasts for about forty-five minutes, and for almost that entire time, you’ll be on the edge of your seat. Last Breath is a pretty impressive piece of nail-biting filmmaking, and it even manages to overcome the biggest hurdle a movie like this has to face. Since it’s based on a true story, you’re already pretty sure Chris is going to make it out alive no matter how grim things get, and that could’ve easily sapped the thrills of all their power. Alex Parkinson needed to find a way to make you believe Chris’s fate was genuinely uncertain, and for my money, he succeeded. Granted, I was still pretty sure the guy was going to survive, but there were a few times when my confidence started to waver a bit. I found myself wondering if this story was going to end up being a tragedy, and…well, I’ll let you watch the movie yourself to find out what really happens. Suffice it to say that Last Breath is a truly effective thriller, but it’s not just an empty exercise in deep-sea tension. There’s a point to this story, and the way I see it, it’s all about the value of human life. When the characters realize that one of their companions is in mortal danger, you can almost feel the concern oozing out of them. It’s evident in the way they look and the way they talk, so you know they genuinely value this man’s life. What’s more, they can’t rescue the guy without putting their own lives at risk, but they do it anyway. He’s that important, and if you’re a Christian, you can’t help but think of Jesus’ parable about leaving the ninety-nine sheep to go look for the one that was lost. Granted, it’s not a perfect fit, but Last Breath perfectly embodies the parable’s teaching that we’re valuable as individuals, not just as parts of a larger whole. There’s even a scene that literally celebrates Chris’s life, and in a total coincidence, my allergies flared up and my eyes began to water during that touching moment. In a world where abortion, the death penalty, and a whole host of other anti-life practices are so dishearteningly prevalent, it’s just really refreshing to see a film that so clearly shines a light on the often unpopular truth that human life matters. It’s a message our culture desperately needs to hear, so despite struggling a bit with its characters, Last Breath still gets a thumbs up from me. I’ve had my eye on the PTSD-centric dramedy My Dead Friend Zoe for a while. Some critics I follow caught the movie at its festival premiere last year, and they loved it. They couldn’t wait for more people to see this film, so naturally, I began counting down the days until its wide theatrical release. I bought a ticket for opening weekend as soon as I got the chance, and now that I’ve finally seen the movie, I’m happy to report that it totally lives up to the hype.
My Dead Friend Zoe was directed and co-written by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, and it stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris. In the film, Merit and Zoe were best friends in the army, and now that they’ve returned home, their friendship is as strong as ever…well, sort of. Zoe is actually dead, but Merit still sees her everywhere she goes. These visions are a manifestation of the woman’s PTSD, and they prevent her from leading a healthy civilian life. Unfortunately, she refuses to talk to anybody about it, but that begins to change when her grandfather, also a veteran, gets diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Merit becomes the man’s caretaker, and that family connection, along with a budding romance, gives her the strength to finally open up about her struggles. From that plot synopsis, you might surmise that My Dead Friend Zoe packs quite the emotional punch, and you’d be right. In fact, it hits even harder than the already weighty premise suggests, but I can’t tell you why without spoiling the movie’s ending. This is seriously one of the most hard-hitting films I’ve seen in a while, and that power starts with the stellar characters and the amazing performers who bring them to life. Let’s go through the main cast one by one. To begin, Morgan Freeman plays the head of Merit’s veterans’ support group, and he’s just as good as you’d expect. This guy seems to play the same character in every movie, but somehow, he makes it work. He just has a velvety smooth, almost hypnotic quality that makes it impossible to look away whenever he’s on screen, and that magnetism is on full display here. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Ed Harris plays Merit’s grandfather as a cantankerous and stubborn old man who refuses to accept that he can’t live on his own anymore, and while his performance is very different from Freeman’s, it’s just as good. He even brought back memories of my own thick-headed grandfathers, so despite the character’s abrasive demeanor, Harris imbued him with a familiarity that won me over instantly. Next, we have to talk about Utkarsh Ambudkar. He plays Merit’s love interest, a retirement home manager named Alex, and he’s incredibly charismatic. Ambudkar imbues the character with a charming playfulness that’s an absolute joy to watch, and his interactions with lead star Sonequa Martin-Green are tinged with just enough awkwardness that you totally buy their mutual attraction as well as their nervousness at this new venture. And speaking of Sonequa Martin-Green, she’s quite possibly the best thing about My Dead Friend Zoe. Everything about this woman, from her speech to her facial expressions, carries the weight of the trauma she’s experienced, so after a while, you can almost feel her pain yourself. On top of that, her chemistry with Natalie Morales, the actress who plays Zoe, is off the charts. You’ll have no trouble believing that these women are best friends, so whenever they’re on screen together, you’ll be sure to get a kick out of their lighthearted banter. In fact, Zoe’s sarcastic comments to her living friend are the main source of humor in My Dead Friend Zoe. Since she’s not really there, she’s able to say things no living person could ever get away with, and Morales’s delivery is pitch-perfect. To be fair, her one-liners never quite made me laugh out loud, but they almost always elicited a silent chuckle that brought a big smile to my face. It’s the kind of comedy that perfectly complements the weighty themes without overpowering them, and trust me, this film needs the comic relief. Like I said, My Dead Friend Zoe gets pretty heavy, and while I can’t spill all the beans, I can say that the story deals with universal human experiences we can all relate to. At its core, this movie is about grief, trauma, and the importance of human connection. Merit is struggling because she lost her best friend, and to cope with the pain, her mind has to recreate that broken connection. What’s more, Merit begins to heal when she starts to let people back into her life, so the message is clear. Sure, My Dead Friend Zoe plays these themes in a military key, so they’re going to resonate more with veterans and current members of the armed forces, but even those of us who’ve never served can see a bit of ourselves in Merit’s story. Almost everyone has lost someone close to them, and if you haven’t yet, you will at some point. It’s just part of life, and we all need someone to lean on when times get tough. That’s the basic message of this movie, but like I said before, there’s a bit more to it than that. There’s a twist here that I don’t think anyone will see coming, and it makes My Dead Friend Zoe a poignant call to action on an important issue that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. I obviously can’t tell you what that issue is, but I can assure you that it’s one we Catholics can and should get behind. It’s the cherry on top of this amazing cinematic experience, so My Dead Friend Zoe is one of the best films of the year so far. It’s the perfect combination of likable characters, excellent comedy, and weighty themes, so if you’re looking for something that’s just as entertaining as it is meaningful, this is almost certainly the movie for you. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
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