Okja

[unspeakablehorror]

I watched Okja (2017) by Bong Joon-Ho recently and absolutely loved it.  Having seen Snowpiercer and Parasite previously, and having only some vague impression that the film was about a girl and her giant animal friend, I was very...curious how that would play out.  It seemed like a large break in topic and mood  from the other works by him I'd seen, but I was quite interested in what direction this director would take such a premise.

Having seen it, I would say that it blends seamlessly with his other works in terms of thematic focus.  There is a huge focus on social class and the atrocities and exploitation committed by the corporate elite.  At the same time, the film also surprised me in a completely unexpected way.  Since elaborating on what way might be considered spoilers, I won't give details, though there are other ways the film also pleasantly surprised me.

It's a very heartwarming story, and a coming-of-age story, but it also deftly avoids the cloying sentimentality and some of the more annoying tropes of the genre.