Mija lives with her grandfather in a remote mountain village in Gangwon, alongside Okja, a super pig the two have raised together over many years. When a meat industry corporation decides to take the animal to the United States, the girl sets out on a risky journey to bring her back. Along the way she crosses paths with animal rights activists, who have plans of their own.

How it was made

Bong Joon-ho first spoke publicly about the project in 2013, describing an adventure film with an unusual heroine and dialogue split roughly evenly between English and Korean. He co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Ronson, who helped shape the English-speaking characters. In late 2015 Netflix and Plan B Entertainment announced a 50 million dollar investment. Cinematographer Darius Khondji joined the production, and filming began on April 22, 2016, in Seoul, with further locations in Daejeon and a tunnel in Gwangsan. After about eight weeks in South Korea, the crew moved to Vancouver and New York. Ahn Seo-hyun, who leads the cast, made her film debut here.

Reception and legacy

Okja competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and was released on Netflix on June 28 of that year. Critics responded positively overall, with an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metascore of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic. Tilda Swinton plays the twin sisters Lucy and Nancy Mirando. The film blends adventure, satire of the food industry and animal drama, and it stands within Bong Joon-ho's body of work as an ambitious international production.