Multi-Oscar-winning South Korean director Bong Joon Ho glided into the snow-blanketed Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday to unveil his long-in-the-making sci-fi feature Mickey 17 and it wasnt long before the international media in the German capital probed the auteur about the relevance of his new movie to the worlds politically fraught present. Mickey 17 stars Robert Pattinson as a down-and-out space colonist living in a high-tech dystopia overseen by a dictator played by Mark Ruffalo with signature relish.

Some of the people I took as a reference were some of Koreas bad leaders of the past, or dictators from elsewhere, but I didnt use any actual politicians from today, Bong said in response to a journalists question about whether some of Ruffalos flamboyant gestures were intended as a reference to President Doland Trump. I created this character in a comical way by drawing inspiration from past figures, but since history always repeats itself, it might seem like Im referring to someone in the present, Bong added. The director said that he strove to infuse his story with as much emotional realism as possible despite its fantastical elements.

Although its a story of the future, it kind of seems like it could happen in the present or the past, he said. This is why I really like the fantasy genres because the characters can be very human so that they dont feel limited to sci-fi.

Set in a near-future and adapted from Edward Ashtons 2022 sci-fi novel Mickey 7,Mickey 17follows Pattnison as an aimless young man who signs up for a job as an expendable, a disposable low-class employee sent on dangerous space jobs who is automatically reprinted via cloning technology whenever he dies on the job. Toni Collette, Naomi Ackie and Steven Yeun co-star alongside Ruffalo.

Bong noted that Mickey 17 also contains the first love story of his filmography, a romance between Pattinsons clone and another space character.

I want to make a film in every genre, the director said. Thats my life goal although Im a little scared of musicals, he added.

Mickey 17has been the subject of much curiosity, given that it is Bongs first film since Parasite swept the Oscars in 2019. The new feature also took a bit longer than expected to emerge, after postproduction delays pushed the film from a March 2024 release into 2025.

The film bowed first in South Korea on Jan. 28, and it will roll out in the U.S. on March 7. Warner Bros. is releasing the film worldwide.