Mickey 17

What’s it about?

Mickey, an "expendable" employee, is sent on a dangerous expedition to colonise the ice world Niflheim. After one version of him dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.

The facts

• Directed by Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho (Parasite)
• Stars Robbert Pattinson (Tenet), Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice), Steven Yeun (Minari), Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers), Toni Collette (Hereditary)
• English language
• Runtime: 137 minutes
• Based on Edward Ashton’s novel “Mickey 7.”

Why did it get this rating?

This film was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Mickey 17 is a dark comedy sci-fi film. Much of its content and themes are intended to be humorous and over the top, however certain scenes may be unsettling for some viewers.

Violence

Characters are frequently killed or injured, with some injury detail and blood splatter, although a lot of the violence happens off-screen. The strongest moments include:

• A character vomits blood several times after being experimented on.
• Characters are attacked with a chainsaw off-screen, with blood splatter shown.
• A creature is shot, and its gory injury is shown afterwards.
• A character’s hand is severed off by a falling object. This is shown briefly on-screen but there is little injury detail.
• Corpses in body bags are shown being tossed into a burning pit.

Sex scenes

Two characters have sex, kissing, thrusting and moaning while the male caresses his partner's breast – you see bare skin but no explicit nudity. The male then moves down her body suggesting off-screen oral sex. A character’s bare buttocks are shown in a non-sexual way.

Drug references

Characters are sold “pure, uncut” Oxycontin, a strong and addictive pain medicine. One character is shown snorting the drug and acts high afterwards.

Offensive language

There is frequent offensive language including “f**k”, “motherf**ker”, “sh*t”, “bullsh*t”, “bitch”, “asshole”, “dickheads”, “prick”, and “whore”.

Self-harm and suicide references

A company sends “expendables” on suicide missions where they must die. Although it is part of the expendables' job to take their own life, they are able to regenerate, and the circumstances of their deaths are largely unrealistic. While unrealistic, these scenes could be upsetting for viewers who are sensitive towards suicide content.

To create a special sauce with her own blood, a woman slits her wrists off-screen.  Blood can be seen dripping down her wrists, with a pool of blood on the ground.

When content stays with you:

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Parasite (Content breakdown)
• What the M?! (Blog)