Pattinson plays a hapless space explorer replicated for further hazardous duties every time he dies in the South Korean director’s timely follow-up to Parasite

We can only speculate about the reasons behind Warner Bros’ decision to delay the release of Mickey 17 for a full year (it was originally scheduled to hit cinemas in March 2024). A science-fiction satire with the tantalising prospect of Robert Pattinson in a dual role, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to his 2020 best picture Oscar winner, Parasite, has been at the top of most film fans’ need-to-see list since it was announced. The date shift sparked alarm and speculation that the director’s consistently high standards might have slipped. In fact, while Mickey 17 isn’t in the same elevated league as Parasite, it’s a lot of fun. What’s more, the delay has made the picture, with its themes of genetic “purity” and an on-the-nose Donald Trump parody courtesy of Mark Ruffalo’s performance as politician turned space coloniser Kenneth Marshall, feel rather more uncomfortably timely. Whether this was the intention is uncertain: given Hollywood’s current reluctance to incur the wrath of the White House, it seems unlikely.

The English-language picture, adapted from Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel Mickey7, represents Bong in brute-force Okja mode rather than the elegant, refined savagery of Parasite. This is not subtle film-making, but then again these are not especially subtle times. The story of a vain, populist leader obsessed with making great television; his followers with their slogan-daubed red hats and the zealot-like fervour of fully signed-up members of a personality cult – it all feels like a bit of a blunt weapon. But a blunt weapon can still do a lot of damage: a pivotal scene in which Naomi Ackie delivers a profanity-laden onslaught of truth to power is as galvanising as anything I’ve seen in the cinema so far this year.

In UK and Irish cinemas