The film competed for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.[4][5] It was released on Netflix on June 28, 2017. The film received positive reviews from critics.
Plot
In 2007, "environmentalist" Lucy Mirando becomes CEO of the Mirando Corporation, succeeding her twin sister. Announcing they have been breeding a special kind of "super pig", 26 specimens are sent to farmers around the world, and ten years later, one will be crowned the winner as the best pig.
In 2017, a young girl named Mija lives in South Korea with her grandfather and their super pig, Okja. Mija and Okja have a very close relationship; they spend much of their time together, and at one point, Okja saves Mija from falling off a cliff. They are visited by Mirando spokesperson and zoologist Dr. Johnny Wilcox, who declares Okja the best super pig, and announces that they will take her to New York City. Her grandfather gives Mija a solid gold pig figurine, explaining he saved up to replace Okja when she was taken away. Devastated, Mija goes to Seoul to find Okja, where she sees her being loaded onto a truck. Mija chases down the truck, but it is intercepted by the Animal Liberation Front.
In the resulting chaos, Mija and Okja run away but are eventually saved by the ALF, led by Jay. He asks another ALF member, K, to translate and tell Mija that they plan to put a recording device in Okja's ear and let her be recaptured by the Mirando Corporation to document how they mistreat animals. Mija asks them to return her to the mountains, but K purposely mistranslates and tells them Mija agrees. They leave, and Okja is recaptured.
To minimize PR damage to the company, Lucy pays for Mija to come to New York to stage a heart-warming reunion with her pig. Okja is taken to a laboratory where she is forcibly bred with another super pig, and flesh is taken from her for a taste test. After the ALF sees the footage, K reveals that he lied to the rest of the group about Mija's support of the plan. Jay beats K, and expels him from the ALF.
In New York, Mija has to comply with the Mirando Corp. Jay slips into her room and tells her they plan to rescue Okja while on stage. During the Mirando parade, a battered and temporarily blinded Okja attacks Mija. Jay tries to hurt Okja to protect the girl, but Mija doesn’t let him and calms Okja down. The ALF shows Okja's mistreatment to the public, who quickly turn against Mirando. Lucy surrenders the company to her twin sister Nancy, who contacts a private security firm Black Chalk to take out the ALF members. Okja is recaptured and the ALF members are arrested, except for Mija and Jay, who are rescued by a remorseful K. Nancy starts full production at the slaughterhouse.
K, Mija, and Jay travel to a processing plant in search of Okja, and find her being forced up a ramp into a slaughterhouse. On the verge of being slaughtered, Mija shows a Mirando employee a photo of herself with baby Okja, prompting him to stop. Nancy arrives and Mija offers the gold pig in exchange for Okja's life. Although initially reluctant, Nancy agrees, as she deemed it a good business deal, having Jay and K arrested. As Mija and Okja are escorted away, a pair of super pigs push their newborn through the electric fence to Okja to hide and rescue from the farm.
Back in the countryside, Mija resumes her life with her grandfather, Okja, and the new piglet.
In a post-credits scene, Jay is released from prison, boarding a bus with K and the other members of the organization. With their newest member Kim Woo-shik, a former driver for Mirando, they plan to disrupt a major Mirando shareholders meeting.
Cast
Ahn Seo-hyun as Mija, a farm girl who takes care of and helped raise Okja.
Tilda Swinton as Lucy Mirando, the eccentric powerful CEO of the Mirando Corporation looking to profit from Okja and the super pig program.
Swinton also plays Nancy Mirando, Lucy's twin sister, the cruel former CEO of the Mirando Corporation
In October 2015, it was announced that director Bong Joon-ho's next film would feature a South Korean female lead and a cast of English-speaking supporting actors, with filming set in New York.[6] On November 10, 2015, it was picked up by Netflix and Plan B Entertainment with a budget of $50 million, with production starting in late 2016 for release in 2017.[2] Darius Khondji joined the film as cinematographer in February 2016.[7]
Bong sought out Welsh author Jon Ronson to help with the script. Working with a rough draft of the story, Ronson helped develop the English-speaking characters.[8]
Principal photography began on April 22, 2016, in Seoul, South Korea.[9][10] It moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for more filming on July 31, 2016.[11] Bong visited a Colorado slaughterhouse to prepare for the film's slaughterhouse sequence, an experience that converted Bong and producer Dooho Choi into temporary vegans.[12] Bong has called Okja "a very shy and introverted animal. It's a unique animal that we've not seen before."[13] Filming wrapped on August 27, 2016.
Themes
In an interview, Bong said the film touched on "capitalism".[14] Co-writer Jon Ronson said he believed the movie would "turn people vegetarian", adding, "I really don’t think that was my intention or Bong’s intention".[15]
Okja had its world premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2017.[16] During the first few minutes of its screening at its Cannes premiere, the film was met with boos mixed with some applause twice: once when the Netflix logo appeared on the screen and again during a technical glitch which projected the film in an incorrect aspect ratio for its first seven minutes.[17][18][19] The festival later issued an apology to its filmmakers for projecting the film incorrectly.[20] But despite the initial negative audience response, the film received a four-minute standing ovation at its end.[21]
Several independent theatres in South Korea screened the film to much success, with earnings totalling 2.3 billion KRW ($2.1 million USD) from 300,953 tickets sold.[24]
Critical response
On the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 242 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.6/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "Okja sees Bong Joon-ho continuing to create defiantly eclectic entertainment – and still hitting more than enough of his narrative targets in the midst of a tricky tonal juggling act."[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[26]
A.O. Scott of The New York Times wrote of the film: "Okja is a miracle of imagination and technique, and Okja insists, with abundant mischief and absolute sincerity, that she possesses a soul."[27] In November 2019, the film was included on The Times' list of "The 10 Most Influential Films of the Decade".[28]
