Quarantine Binge: "Okja" (2017) Review
Editor’s Note: With no new theatrical releases for the foreseeable future, we will be reviewing a variety of old and new films that are available to stream on popular services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. For a full ranking of films in this series and to find our other reviews, please follow this link.
Plot Synopsis courtesy of IMDb.com: “A young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating beast named Okja.”
Directed by: Bong Joon Ho (Parasite)
Written by: Bong Joon Ho and Jon Ronson (Frank)
Cinematography by: Darius Khondji (Amour)
Starring: Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Seo-hyun Ahn (The Housemaid) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)
Okja is rated TV-MA.
Originally released on Netflix in 2017, Okja is a film by renowned Korean filmmaker, Bong Joon Ho, who broke into the American zeitgeist in a big way last year with his Academy Award-winning film, Parasite. Unlike Parasite, Okja isn’t entirely in Korean and stars a bevy of well-known Hollywood actors, such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, and Lily Collins. The film is set in Korea and the United States, as it follows Mija (Seo-hyan Ahn), a young Korean girl who is one of ten participants around the globe tasked with raising a genetically modified “super pig.”
Developed by Lucy Mirando’s (Swinton) corporation, the pigs are part of an experiment aimed at making the meat industry more profitable, and supposedly, more environmentally friendly. After ten years of raising her pig (affectionately named Okja), Mija discovers the Mirando Corporation plans to slaughter Okja. Assisted by the “militant vegan” group, Animal Liberation Front, Mija travels to the U.S. to rescue her friend and expose the unethical treatment of the animals developed by Mirando.
From the remote forests of Korea to the crowded corporate spaces in New York, Okja is gorgeously photographed. Bong finds beauty in every scene and is meticulous in the use of space and scenery. A chase scene through the packed streets of Seoul feels like something out of a James Bond film thanks to the sleek camera work.
In traditional Bong style, Okja is an exercise in tonal shifts across different genres and styles. The film pivots seamlessly from comedy to action to drama — and even sometimes horror — and never misses a beat. It feels cliché to say, but Okja is one of those rare films that will have audiences laughing, crying and walking away with a different perspective on the world.
Okja is at its core a politically minded and socially aware film, but it is never preachy or self-righteous in its presentation. It is frequently poking fun at the virtue of the activists, including one who refuses to eat anything for fear of supporting any form of capitalistic venture. While it shies away from anything too radical, Okja is a warmly rendered and thought-provoking look at our relationship with our planet and feels particularly relevant at such a tumultuous moment in human history.
Reel Rating: 8/10
Okja is available to stream now on Netflix.
