Full disclaimer; I am a vegetarian, so I was always going to be sympathetic to the message of this film. And while some would argue, perhaps correctly in most cases, that the medium IS the message, it doesn't always hold that a noble sentiment translates into a well made film. Thankfully this is not the case here.
A whirlwind mash of genres (part heist movie; part buddy comedy; part activist polemic) Okja is a beautifully executed interweaving of the complex and deep relationship between humanity and the other animals that inhabit our planet. Despite (obviously) heavy use of CGI for Okja herself, the Super Pig's presence is (mostly) seamless with the rest of the environment, and its convincing and moving interactions with the rest of the cast, not least a starring performance from young Seo Hyun as Mija, were enough to move me to tears more than once.
At no point does the film verge into 'preachiness', however, nor wander into grisly animal-rights documentary territory. It achieves this through interspersing some nicely shot action scenes with the odd absurdist comic line, before, towards the end of the film, revealing in jarring and emotional fashion the logical consequence of mass, production-line slaughter. And that really is the main takeaway from the film; not that MEAT=BAD, but rather that the industrialised killing our profit-driven society has allowed to develop is an unbearable and heartbreaking infringement of the rights of the living beings with which we must share our earth.
Perhaps the only reservation is Jake Gyllenhaal's bizarre performance as Johnny Wilcox. I personally didn't have that much of a problem with it, although can see why the OTT nature of it might pull one out of the film on occasion. Nonetheless, Okja is a film bold in its scale and confident in its message. At once gentle and brutal; funny and poignant, I really can't give this film any more praise without it sounding like I'm a Netflix plant. Highly recommended, whatever you choose to put on your plate...
