Bong Joon Ho’s Okja runs 120 minutes and puts a chase through Seoul and New York at the service of one question: what does it cost to love an animal that a corporation has already counted as product? The film is a 2017 science fiction action-adventure, written by Bong and Jon Ronson from a story by Bong. It is a South Korean and American co-production, and it was released on Netflix on June 28, 2017. It competed for the Palme d’Or in the main competition at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. It holds a Metacritic score of 75/100 and a 7.5/10.
The title creature is a genetically modified “super pig.” In 2007, Lucy Mirando takes over the Mirando Corporation from her twin sister Nancy and announces that 26 specimens have been placed with farmers around the world. Roughly a decade later, one will be named the best super pig. That contest is the engine of the plot.
Trailer, via Netflix.
Mija and Okja in the South Korean Mountains
Ten years on, a teenage girl named Mija lives in the South Korean mountains with her grandfather and their super pig, Okja. The two are inseparable. At one point Okja saves Mija from falling off a cliff.
Then Dr. Johnny Wilcox arrives. He is a zoologist and a Mirando spokesperson, and he declares Okja the best super pig. He also announces that the company will take her to New York City. Mija’s grandfather gives her a solid gold pig figurine. He had saved up for it, he explains, to replace Okja when she was taken away.
Mija goes to Seoul to find Okja. She sees her loaded onto a truck and chases it down. The truck is intercepted by the Animal Liberation Front, and in the chaos Mija and Okja run off. The ALF, led by Jay, eventually saves them both. The driver, Kim Woo-shik, resigns.
Jay, K, and the Recapture Plan
Jay has a plan. He asks another ALF member, K, to translate for Mija: they will put a recording device in Okja’s ear and let the Mirando Corporation recapture her, so the group can document how the company mistreats animals. Mija asks them to return Okja to the mountains. K mistranslates on purpose and tells the others she agrees. They leave, and Okja is recaptured.
To limit the public relations damage, Lucy pays for Mija to come to New York and stage a heart-warming reunion with her pig. Okja is taken to a laboratory, forcibly bred with another super pig, and has flesh taken from her for a taste test.
A Cast Built for Two Halves
Ahn Seo-hyun plays Mija in her film debut. Byun Hee-bong plays her grandfather, Hee Bong. Yoon Je-moon plays Mundo Park, the Korean representative of Mirando.
Tilda Swinton plays both Mirando twins: Lucy, the eccentric CEO who wants to profit from Okja and the super pig program, and Nancy, the cruel former CEO who later takes the corporation back. Paul Dano plays Jay, the ALF leader. Steven Yeun plays K, the translator. Lily Collins plays Red, Daniel Henshall plays Blond, and Devon Bostick plays Silver, who is Blond’s boyfriend.
Giancarlo Esposito plays Frank Dawson, a Mirando executive loyal to the Mirandos. Shirley Henderson plays Jennifer, Lucy’s personal assistant. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Johnny Wilcox, the disturbed zoologist and TV personality. Choi Woo-shik plays Kim Woo-shik, the young driver who sides with the ALF by the post-credits scene.
The Mirando Corporation and the Super Pig Contest
The Mirando Corporation runs the contest that opens the film. Lucy Mirando takes the top job in 2007 and sends 26 super pigs out to farmers. Ten years later the company collects on the bet: Wilcox names Okja the winner and ships her to New York.
The company’s methods are laid out in the plot. It recaptures Okja through the ALF’s own plan. It stages a reunion for the cameras. It breeds her and takes flesh for a taste test. Those are the facts the film gives about Mirando, and they are enough to build the case the movie wants to make.
The Animal Liberation Front
The ALF intercepts the truck carrying Okja and saves Mija and the pig in the chaos. Jay leads the group. K serves as translator between Mija and the rest of the ALF. Red, Blond, and Silver are members. Blond and Silver are a couple.
The group’s plan is to put a recording device in Okja’s ear and let Mirando recapture her, so the mistreatment can be documented. Mija asks for Okja to be returned to the mountains. K mistranslates her answer and tells the others she agrees. The plan goes forward and Okja is recaptured.
The Tagline and the Runtime
The tagline is “We needed a miracle. And then we got one.”
The film’s runtime is 120 minutes. Its genres are listed as adventure, drama, science fiction, and action. It was released on Netflix on June 28, 2017, and it competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes the same year. It received positive reviews from critics.
A Schedule for the Super Pig Program
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Lucy Mirando becomes CEO of the Mirando Corporation, succeeding Nancy |
| 2007 | 26 super pigs are sent to farmers around the world |
| 2017 | Johnny Wilcox declares Okja the best super pig |
| 2017 | Okja is taken to New York City |
| 2017 | Mija travels to Seoul, then to New York |
| 2017 | Okja is recaptured, bred, and sampled in a laboratory |
| 2017 | The film releases on Netflix on June 28 |
That table is the film’s structure, and much of Okja is a countdown. The contest is announced in 2007 and judged about ten years later. Everything in between is a girl growing up next to an animal that was always going to be taken from her.
What the Record Shows
Okja carries a Metacritic score of 75/100 and a 7.5/10. The film received positive reviews from critics.
The record is what this paper has to work with: a Cannes competition slot, a Netflix release on June 28, 2017, a 120-minute runtime, and a cast that puts Ahn Seo-hyun in her film debut opposite Tilda Swinton in a dual role. The plot is a rescue story, and the company at its center breeds and samples the animal it has spent a decade promoting.
The part worth watching is the recapture plan. The ALF puts a device in Okja’s ear and hands her back to Mirando on purpose, and K lies to Mija about what she agreed to. That is the film’s sharpest piece of machinery, and it does not need a verdict from anyone. The rest — the contest, the reunion, the taste test — is the setup that makes the betrayal land.
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