Okja (2017)

Director: Joon-ho Bong

Starring: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhaal

A young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend – a fascinating beast named Okja.

Okja’s insanely good visuals are no doubt the draw card for this fantasy comedy-drama. Once I was used to the stunning visuals and the beyond-cute Okja pig, I found the film itself very slow moving with a sense of deja vu more often than not, as if the film was moving in circles. It was also not credible at all to see how little security and staff there were at the Miranda facilities, keeping in mind the secret nature of their operation. A young girl easily gained access to every restricted area without being seen or captured. Not believable. It played like a Disney family TV movie for a young audience. Having said that, I did enjoy the film, and loved the absolutely beautiful ending!

‘Okja’ received several award nominations and won for Best Director and Best Feature Film.

In English and Korean.