A disposable employee is sent on a human expedition to colonize the ice world Niflheim. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. A film by Bong Joon Ho, starring Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Patsy Ferran, Cameron Britton, Daniel Henshall, Stephen Park, Anamaria Vartolomei, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo.

Mickey Barns (Robert Pattinson) and his best friend Timo (Steven Yeun) take out a massive loan to open a macaron shop, but their business quickly tanks. When they try to skip town, they’re caught by the underboss (Lloyd Hutchinson) of loan shark Darius Blank.

They soon discover Darius Blank (Ian Hanmore) is a complete psychopath who enjoys on watching his debtors die in horrifically bloody ways, even recording the gruesome details while he watches. The underboss gives them a terrifying preview of what awaits if they miss their payment deadline, warning they’ll be hunted to the ends of the earth.

So Mickey and Timo decide to get off Earth entirely by joining the colony expedition to planet Niflheim. The mission is led by former congressman Kenneth Marshall, who lost his last two elections and is now trying to establish his own kingdom among the stars. But escaping isn’t as easy as Mickey thought; thousands of others have the same idea. Timo has a clear path forward as a flitter pilot, while Mickey, lacking any special skills, applies for the “Expendable” position.

The receptionist (Bronwyn James) looks startled when Mickey submits his application for “Expendable.” She asks if he actually read through the entire application, which Mickey insists he did, though he definitely didn’t. She quickly notifies her supervisor (Holliday Grainger), who comes down and questions him again about reading the paperwork. Mickey, just wanting to get the process over with, confirms that he has.

Mickey follows the supervisor down a long tunnel as she explains that while the job will be extreme, it’ll also be “fun.” In the preparation room, she points to a massive tank downstairs, explaining it’s called a cycler. It collects all organic waste from the spaceship, then combines, refines, and recycles it before sending a portion to a gigantic printer that can create a human body. She casually mentions that whenever Mickey dies, it will print a new version of his body within 20 hours.

The first step of the Expendable process involves a complete scan of Mickey’s biodata, which will be used to reprint him exactly as he is now if he dies. The next step happens weekly. Mickey’s memory will be uploaded to a personal backup so that when they print a new version of his body, his memories stay intact and up to date.

Mickey begins the four-and-a-half year journey aboard the spaceship as Mickey 1. During the trip, he develops a romance with security agent Nasha Barridge (Naomi Ackie). Meanwhile, the scientists use him as a guinea pig to test their toxic gas development, resulting in Mickey dying several times.

In 2054, the spaceship finally reaches Niflheim. Mickey is the first one sent out to test if the air contains anything harmful to humans, only to discover that Niflheim is infested with a deadly virus. The scientists eventually develop a vaccine for the planet’s pathogens, but only after burning through multiple versions of Mickey in the process.

By the time the scientists successfully create a vaccine allowing humans to breathe Niflheim’s air without oxygen masks, Mickey has reached iteration 17. A security team is assembled to explore the surrounding area, consisting of Kai Katz (Anamaria Vartolomei), Jennifer Chilton (Ellen Robertson), a soldier (Thomas Turgoose), and Mickey 17. The team discovers a nearby ice cave and heads inside to investigate.

Inside the cave, they stumble upon a swarm of indigenous creatures. Frightened and assuming they’re under attack, the team opens fire while scrambling back toward the entrance. Jennifer spots a creature on the overhead ice and blasts it with her machine gun, causing the ice ceiling to crack and collapse on her. She dies instantly.

Back at the spaceship, Kenneth Marshall is furious upon learning of Jennifer’s death. He lashes out at Mickey 17, yelling that as an expendable, Mickey should be the one dead. Kenneth punishes Mickey by slashing his food rations in half and assigning him double shifts until he can capture one of the planet’s indigenous creatures, known as “Creepers,” and bring it back alive. The scientists need to study it and determine whether the creatures pose a threat to the first human settlement.

During a mission, Mickey 17 accidentally falls into a deep fissure. Timo flies his ship in circles around the opening, lands nearby, and then climbs down to retrieve Mickey’s flamethrower. However, he abandons Mickey to die, claiming the rope isn’t long enough to reach Mickey’s position further below. Timo reports Mickey dead, and a new iteration begins printing.

Meanwhile, Mickey accepts his imminent death as a gigantic Creeper crawls toward him. To his surprise, the creature doesn’t eat him. Instead of attacking, the creature drags him through an underground tunnel. A swarm of small Creepers pushes and rolls Mickey to the other side, which turns out to be the surface. Mickey 17 manages to hitch a ride on the back of an exploration vehicle and returns to the spaceship.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

As Mickey 17 returns to his room, he is horrified to discover they’ve already printed his next iteration, Mickey 18. The film then delivers a somewhat unnecessary four-minute flashback explaining how having multiple clones active simultaneously called “Multiples” is strictly forbidden under Earth law.

This prohibition exists because one of the pioneers of human printing technology, Alan Manikova (Edward Davis), was actually a serial killer who created clone duplicates to establish perfect alibis for his crimes. Kenneth Marshall seized on this scandal to propose an experimental off-world cloning program under the label Expendables, with ironclad restrictions. The oversight committee approved his plan. Any discovered Multiples would be immediately detained, executed, and permanently erased from the system.

Mickey 18 behaves differently from his previous versions, now appearing cynical and aggressive. This could easily be explained as a system glitch, with no need for a flashback to the psychopath inventor. Mickey 18 knocks out Mickey 17 and tries to kill him by throwing him into the cycler. But Mickey 17 regains consciousness, and the two fight, each trying to kill the other before anyone discovers they’re Multiples. During the struggle, Mickey 18 hears someone approaching the room. He shoves Mickey 17 into a nearby hiding spot, where they witness Timo dealing undiluted Oxyzofol, an illegal substance he stole from Mickey 17’s flamethrower.

Feeling betrayed, Mickey 18 blames Timo for the loan that forced them to leave Earth in the first place. Mickey 18 tries to kill Timo by pushing him into the cycler but is interrupted by the head of security, Zeke (Stephen Park), and Nasha. Mickey 18 pulls Timo out of the cycler chute, threatening to kill him if he tells anyone. Mickey 17 watches in silence as Mickey 18 leaves with Nasha.

While following Nasha, Mickey 17 is intercepted by Marshall’s assistant Preston (Daniel Henshall) and taken to a lavish dinner hosted by Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette). Kai joins them later. After eating some experimental meat, Mickey 17 has a severe reaction and receives a special painkiller injection that actually makes him look worse. Kenneth decides to put Mickey down, and though Kai tries to intervene, she fails. Just as Kenneth is about to pull the trigger, Mickey desperately pleads for his life, claiming he suddenly feels fine.

Finding herself attracted to Mickey and fixated on what Jennifer experienced when she died, Kai brings him back to her quarters, hoping he might provide some answers. Mickey quickly bolts when Kai tries to seduce him.

But when Mickey 17 returns to his own quarters, he’s shocked to discover that not only does Nasha know about Mickey 18, she seems perfectly fine with it. She’s even excited about having both Mickeys for herself. Things take a turn when Kai drops by with herbal tea and accidentally sees Mickey’s multiples.

Written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho, MICKEY 17 is a sci-fi black comedy adapted from Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel “MICKEY7.” The story follows Mickey Barnes, a space colonist who finds himself serving as an “expendable” who is tasked with all the most dangerous missions required to establish a beachhead colony on the ice world Niflheim.

Edward Ashton is an American science fiction author best known for his MICKEY7 series, which follows a cloned “expendable” named Mickey Barnes on perilous missions at a distant colony. The MICKEY7 series by Edward Ashton is a high-concept science fiction narrative that begins with the titular novel, MICKEY7 (2022). The story combines humor, action, and philosophical musings on cloning and identity, drawing comparisons to works like The Martian and Dark Matter. The sequel, Antimatter Blues (2023), continues Mickey’s journey as he grapples with his role in the colony’s survival and his evolving sense of self.

While the premise has potential, the cloning angle doesn’t really break new ground in sci-fi. The overall story feels like territory we’ve seen before. Humans leave Earth seeking a habitable planet, using technology to overcome obstacles they encounter. Of course, one character gets saved by the indigenous intelligent species and inevitably decides to stand up against the power-hungry leader. It’s a familiar formula.

Why do the creepers look like oversized tardigrades? They’re cute enough, but not particularly memorable. And it’s strange that the entire planet seems to be inhabited by just this one species. Wouldn’t a whole planet have more biodiversity?

Robert Pattinson is the standout, brilliantly playing both the kind-hearted original Mickey 17 and the cynically aggressive Mickey 18. Unfortunately, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette go way over the top as Kenneth Marshall and Ylfa, making their characters feel more like cartoons than actual people.

The movie never quite lands its dark comedy aspirations. It’s neither dark enough nor funny enough to really hit that tone. The story gets bogged down in unnecessarily complicated relationships and too many subplots, making the whole film drag on longer than it should.

MICKEY 17 premiered at at the Leicester Square in London on 13 February 2025. It was theatrically released in South Korea on 28 February and in the United States on 7 March.