In the film, the Mirando Corporation devises a long-term marketing stunt where the company claims to naturally create “super pigs”, Hippo-like creatures that are by all accounts both incredibly adorable and a huge renewable source of food with less of an environmental footprint. In a big grandiose press conference, Mirando pledges to give these pigs to farmers around the world to raise in a “best of the super pig” competition. It’s here that we are introduced to CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) in a larger than life way, sporting bright white hair and a very… let’s say recognisable speaking tone, and it unfortunately feels more like Mugatu’s introduction of Derelicte than anything.
Cut to a decade later, we meet Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), an orphaned Korean girl living with her grandfather and Okja, one of these super pigs. After Mirando Corp. captures Okja to parade around in New York and, ultimately, turn to food, Mija embarks on a mission to save her animal friend from its impending doom.
But to contrast these bumbling characters, Bong fails to truly maximise the villainous potential of Swinton’s Lucy. Hell, Mija’s grandfather felt more villainous to this writer than Lucy, as her motives still seem more related to helping people, despite her nefarious means. Lucy needed much more – like the factory scene given to Jake Gyllenhaal’s Johnny Wilcox, for example ““ in order to be given a clear-cut antagonist role, which is what was needed. Instead, Lucy waltzes through the film as someone who is simply misguided more than anything, until someone else takes the spotlight for the last 10 minutes, which just feels forced.
I am not purely basing this on food choices, as Bong’s subjects cover a wide spectrum, such as the wealth of information available at our fingertips on how products such as clothes or phones are made. How much are we willing to accept when it comes to highly dubious manners of production before we just say no?
The film has the basics of a family film – a teenage protagonist protecting one of the cutest creatures put to screen – and yet the blood, guts and profanity laid throughout wildly shift the tone. Couple that with Swinton and Gyllenhaal’s cartoonish portrayals of their characters, and you have a very uneven film that flickers between E.T. and a PETA Facebook video. Simply put, Okja comes across as a film uncertain of what it wants to be.
THE REEL SCORE: 5/10
