Commentary: ‘Mickey 17’ Is Actually Two Stories In One
by Frank Martin
A lot of times, the premise for a story is different than the plot. A premise is nothing more than an idea or a concept. They can be interesting to explore and examine from a thematic perspective. But a premise alone is not a story. A plot is needed to move the story along and to keep the reader or viewer engaged. It creates an arena for characters to compete in and audiences to cheer them on. Sometimes the premise and the plot weave together well. Other times, they can feel completely separate and on their own trajectory as two distinct things. This is what happens in Bong Joon Ho‘s Mickey 17.
The film is essentially a science fiction epic about a group of humans leaving Earth to colonize an alien world. This is the plot of the film as a rich businessman, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), tries to create a functioning civilization on a harsh planet already populated by a native species. However, the premise of the film is something completely different. It involves a man named Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), who volunteers for the mission so he can escape a loan shark on Earth. Willing to sacrifice his own life for a chance to go on the journey, Mickey agrees to allow his body to be cloned repeatedly when he dies so that he can be experimented on as an expendable human.
If it feels like the film’s run time is a bit too long, it’s because it tries to juggle the plot and the premise at the same time. The premise is a character journey involving the sanctity of human life and what Mickey experiences as an expendable human. But the plot is also important. Time has to be devoted to the mission’s attempt to create a functioning colony and deal with the native species. Marshall is a caricature of an authoritarian leader, and although Mickey gets wrapped up in his plans, they are completely separate from Mickey’s characterization. As a film about cloning, the plot could have headed into any number of directions, not necessarily one that involves colonization. The result is a movie that feels like two distinct stories at the same time.
Mickey 17 is now streaming on HBO Max.
