South Korean visionary filmmaker Bong Joon Ho (봉준호) is all set to release his latest work, an epic adventure film titled, “Okja”.
Deftly blending genres, humour, poignancy and drama, Bong Joon Ho (of “Snowpiercer” and “The Host” fame) begins with the gentlest of premises – the bond between man and animal – and ultimately creates a distinct and layered vision of the world that addresses the animal inside us all.
The film follows Mija, a young girl who risks everything to prevent a powerful, multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend – a massive animal named Okja. Bong Joong Ho described the Okja to be “a very shy and introverted animal” and “a unique animal that we’ve not seen before”.
The plot is as follows:
“For 10 idyllic years, young Mija (played by An Seo Hyun) has been caretaker and constant companion to Okja – a massive animal and an even bigger friend – at her home in the mountains of South Korea. But that changes when a family-owned multinational conglomerate Mirando Corporation takes Okja for themselves and transports her to New York, where image obsessed and self-promoting CEO Lucy Mirando (played by Tilda Swinton) has big plans for Mija’s dearest friend.
With no particular plan but single-minded in intent, Mija sets out on a rescue mission, but her already daunting journey quickly becomes more complicated when she crosses paths with disparate groups of capitalists, demonstrators and consumers, each battling to control the fate of Okja…while all Mija wants to do is bring her friend home.”
“Okja” stars Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Giancarlo Esposito, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, and newcomer An Seo Hyun.
“Okja”, a Plan B Entertainment, Lewis Picture, and Kate Street Picture Company production in association with Netflix, will have dialogue mostly in Korean while partially consisting of English.
The film will premiere exclusively on Netflix on 28th June 2017.
