Beyond basic calendar chronology, I have no real reason to believe Bong Joon-ho developed Mickey 17 to serve as a primer of his cinematic predilections for anyone coming anew to his work following his historic Oscar wins for the 2019 masterpiece Parasite. And yet there it all is in the wonderful messiness of the new movie, his first since sweeping up all those trophies five years ago. There’s the darkly comic vision of a crushing-capitalistic future that defines Snowpiercer, formidable monsters familiar from The Host, and even a bit of the callous carnivore consumption found in Okja. Gather around, uninitiated cineastes, it’s time to get the full Bong treatment.

Bong is the sole credited writer on the screenplay, which is adapted from the 2022 novel Mickey7, written by Edward Ashton. Set around thirty years in the future, the story follows Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a hard-luck case who desperately tries to escape a dangerous situation by taking a terrible job on an interstellar mission. Every peon serving the wealthy elite on the ship hurtling to a distant planet is obviously expendable to the those in power, but that’s literally Mickey’s job title. He is tasked with the chores that are so risky that they often prove fatal, whether a spacewalk with debris careening by or simply being injecting with pathogens to determine how severely they’ll ravage the human body. After Mickey meets his inevitable demise, a new body is generated and his stored memories are downloaded into it. Complications ensue. Although the trailers and other promotional materials give far more details away, I think the less typed, the better.

As usual, Bong’s directing is vibrant and energetic. His engagement with the act of screen storytelling is so joyful that it’s easy to commit to the ride, bumps and all. And the film’s cynical view of the cruelty built right in to social systems is hard to argue with after any honest perusal of the real-life news. This time, though, some of the satire is too blunt and even oafish. As a former senator who presides over the mission and lords over the spacefaring populace with oily manipulation, Mark Ruffalo is annoying cartoonish as a character who comes across as a combination of the current U.S. president and half the morons in his cabinet. Even as they fare better, Toni Collette and Steven Yeun arguably hit the notes of their characters with a degree or two more emphasis than is ideal.

Bong’s basic thesis is sound, and, as with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, I’m grateful that a distinctive filmmaker is using a big pile of studio money to make a work that has more on its mind than teasing audiences for future installments. Mickey 17 is most successful as a showcase for Pattinson. Like his castmates, he uses fairly broad strokes, but he keeps enough wounded humanity in play to stay in the real. To his great credit, Pattison comes across as one of a kind.