S8E12 – "Mickey 17" (spoilers)

·23 min·2 clips

Would you sign up to be an expendable clone who dies repeatedly for science, and could you ever get used to it?

Lonnie and Sinead open by debating whether they'd sign up to be an expendable clone like in Mickey 17, with Sinead refusing due to fear of dying. They introduce the film as Bong Joon-ho's latest, based on the novel Mickey 7, and starring Robert Pattinson. The hosts praise Pattinson for using his Twilight fame to fund artistic projects, calling him a must-see actor who throws himself into roles. They note the film's release date shifts suggest studio uncertainty. Sinead criticizes the performances of Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette as caricatured, Trump-inspired villains that clash with serious themes. Lonnie explains the plot: Pattinson's character Mickey is an expendable clone who dies repeatedly for a space mission, with a complication when two Mickeys exist simultaneously. The hosts discuss the film's class commentary, comparing clones to exploited workers. They critique the indigenous creatures' intelligence reveal as obvious and the love story as shallow. Lonnie highlights a missed opportunity for a clone identity fake-out. The ending dream sequence is criticized as a pointless fake-out, a recurring issue in Bong's films. They compare the film's tonal shifts to Parasite's consistency. Both hosts rate it 3 to 3.5 stars, praising Pattinson but finding the narrative uneven. They recommend Bong's more serious films like The Host and Memories of Murder. The episode closes with upcoming Pattinson projects and a podcast recommendation.

As heard by us

A spoiler-heavy Mickey 17 review turns repeated death into a pointed discussion of fear, expendability, class, and identity.

Death stays ugly in this spoiler-heavy review of Mickey 17, and that is where the discussion finds its cleanest point: if an expendable keeps dying for the mission, fear should not magically wear off.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a spoiler-heavy chat about repeated death, disposable work, and the two Mickeys the hosts expected the film to play with harder.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from I Only Like You and Movies