Review of Okja (2017) by Maxleresistant — 29 Jun 2017

I didn't expect anything from Okja, mainly because I didn't like Snowpiercer and Netflix doesn't have a great track record when it comes to movies.

But I watched it with an open mind, and it is simply a great movie. Behind the simple story of a little girl and her pig, there is a really complex movie with colorful, interesting, flawed and yet very relatable characters.

When you see the relationship between Okja and the little girl, other movies like Totoro and Pete's Dragon will come to mind, it's the old tale of the friendship between the animal/mystical creature and a kid. Full of innocence, beauty, and wonder. But the twist here is that this animal is being bred to be eaten.

I'm not a vegan, and I am still not a vegan after watching this movie. But reducing this movie to "eating meat is murder" would be completely stupid and plain wrong, I would remind people that we see the the girl eating fish and a grand father making chicken stew.

Okja is not a real animal, it's an imaginary creature made of CGIs. This is not a documentary about cows going to the slaughterhouse.

But this "Super-pig" that is Okja, is the catalyst for a lot of questions that we have today about our food. The movie is more about making people think about what is in our plates, how it got there, and where do you draw the line between an intelligent animal like a dog and a animal that is just food like a fish. About the tone of the movie, it successfully shows a harsh reality, but under the light of an excentric imagination. It's a movie where you laugh, cry, hate and think.

And to me, it is all the marks of a great movie. I would add that some scenes are really not suitable for children though. This is more PG-13.