Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		2.5

Okja 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

My neighbor Faux-toro.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III December 9, 2022

A joint South Korean and American production that plays like a bad English dub, Bong Joon Ho's Okja is a passionate, preachy drama with great visuals, a decent lead performance, and a fatally uneven tone that sinks the ship. Our story concerns young farm girl Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun): she lives in the mountains with her grandfather (Byun Hee-bong) and their oversized pig Okja, one of 26 such super-animals sent to farmers around the world by the Miranda Corporation, a mega-conglomerate hoping to solve the world's food shortage. Each these animals were raised in a way conducive to their respective culture, with the winning swine crowned at New York's upcoming "Best Super Pig Competition". After learning about Okja's mandatory departure -- as well as the real fate of its winner, as told to her by members of the Animal Liberation Front -- angry Mija departs for America on a mission to save her beloved pet.

It's basically a Disney-ready script overloaded with WALL-E's earnest social consciousness, but the tone-deaf nature of Okja's execution makes it a flabbergasting chore to sit through. Entire segments of the story are needlessly confusing, long-winded, or predictable. Many of its ideological themes, while admirable, are too preachy to be effective and don't hold up to scrutiny: there's no big "save the animals" message here, just the sweet ones you've anthropomorphized. Some of its less child-friendly content -- disturbing animal treatment, random swearing -- will keep this away from kids intrigued by the innocent title character with his trusting eyes and unassuming, carefree attitude. I'm not saying there's some kind of wide-appeal project buried under the rubble (or if that's even appropriate, given the subject matter), but it's difficult to imagine exactly who Okja was made for. Masochistic vegan parents, maybe?

Most of the prominent American characters are either badly written or their performances fully miss the mark: Tilda Swinton (who plays CEO Lucy Mirando and her twin sister) delivers the opening speech while chewing the scenery to pieces which, combined with sloppy expositional text, makes us think we're the victims of a practical joke. (It's similar to the classroom scene in Snowpiercer -- I hated the tone then too, but at least it was buried in the mix more deeply.) She does manage to wring a bit of humanity from the villainous role, especially as Okja unfolds, but it's too little, too late. Shirley Henderson distracts in a minor role as Mirando's assistant Jennifer, who appears to be impersonating her own grandmother. But none are worse than Jake Gyllenhaal: he's absolutely awful as Johnny Wilcox, an unconvincing TV personality with over-the-top behavior that should've been reigned in by the director. Only Paul Dano (Jay, leader of the ALF) is tolerable in his limited role, because he's basically playing the same character as usual.

The viewing experience is partially salvaged by Okja's outstanding visual effects, which bring its title character to life in a surprisingly convincing manner; both his appearance as well as the way he interacts with his environment, including other actors. Lead actor Ahn Seo-hyun also impresses with a solid performance, even if her character's actions send a mixed message that kind of undermines its otherwise beating heart. While the strength of these two characters is not enough for Okja to fully overcome its obvious shortcomings, it's still very much a "your mileage may vary" affair... and for those who fall for its charms, Criterion's 4K combo pack and their separate Blu-ray edition will certainly fit the bill. Both feature proportionately solid A/V presentations that far outpace streaming versions, and the mostly new extras offer a nice mix of on-set production accounts and retrospective thoughts from the cast and crew.

Keeping the spirit of "your mileage may vary" alive, please read Brian Orndorf's theatrical review -- or pretty much most other reviews, for that matter -- for a more positive take on the main feature.

Okja 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Although the included Blu-ray (also available separately) serves up an impressive 1080p transfer, Criterion's UHD edition -- preserving the film's true 4K source material -- obviously beats it handily in every department. This is a very refined presentation of a visually ambitious film, one where the presence if its lead animal character has to blend in seamlessly for the illusion to work. It does, of course, and the resulting effect is one of Okja's inarguable bright spots, as careful lighting and clever manipulation of background elements (both aided by temp puppetry, detailed in a few of the included bonus features) make the faux animal's existence about as convincing as any other similarly-budgeted feature I've seen in recent memory. Even stepping away from its most obvious visual highlight, this is a pristine image with excellent fine detail, strong textures, precise color saturation, and consistently detailed black levels and shadows; all are aided in some way by its HDR enhancement, which also comes in the form of Dolby Vision if your setup supports it. A direct comparison reveals subtle but striking differences in key areas; it's low on "pop" by design but is instead a more smoothly satisfying image that will look quite impressive on medium and larger displays, with obvious variances depending on your setup's peak brightness and black levels, as well as its local dimming capabilities. An outstanding effort, and one that also benefits from the greater real estate of its its 100GB movie-only disc.

Okja 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Okja's Dolby Atmos mix, identical to the 4K disc, compromises nothing and plays as nicely as you'd expect for a film of this type: its serene moments feature wonderfully subtle use of the surround and height channels for quiet ambiance, while more action-oriented or dramatic moments boost the tension and excitement considerably with more deliberate activity that spills into the back rows more frequently. Dialogue is crisp and clear regardless of spoken language, with forced subtitles accompanying all foreign dialogue. Overall, it's a well-balanced and carefully staged effort that enjoys a well-rendered quiet/loud dynamic, rarely taking any sort of sonic shortcuts to get its point across.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the film and all foreign-language extras.

Okja 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Okja ships in a thick clear keepcase with ultra-dark cover artwork (much less "readable" than Amazon's image above), an interior image, and their usual fold-out leaflet with notes about the A/V specs, cast/crew credits, acknowledgements, and an essay by film critic Karen Han titled "Big Love". Extras are found on the Blu-ray disc only.

• Completing the Journey (33:32) - This subtitled video conversation, recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2021, features director Bong Joon Ho and producer Dooho Choi reminiscing about the making of Okja. We also get a few photos from the set, pieces of concept art, and of course supportive clips from the film.

• Creating Life (9:06) - Similarly, this 2021 audio interview with cinematographer Darius Khondji features his comments about the successes and challenges of shooting the film with its extensive special effects integration; while he speaks, we also see supportive clips from the finished film and candid on-set footage.

• A New Form of Love (16:11 total) - The first of two companion pieces is a recent video interview with lead actor An Seo Hyun ("Mija"), recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2021, who reflects on her character and the filmmaking process. Also included here is the 2015 screen test that landed her the role.

• One More Time (18:10) - Another recent video interview, this 2022 piece features Bong Joon Ho and his long-time collaborator and Okja supporting actor Byun Heebong ("Hee Bong", Mija's grandfather).

• A Real Animal (16:05) - The first of a few visually-minded pieces, this 2021 piece features VFX supervisor Erik-Jan de Boer and animation supervisor Stephen Clee, who shed some light on the process used to bring the title character to life including concept art, sculptures, on-set stand-ins, and other building blocks.

• Creative Collaboration (19:56) - Production designer Kevin Thompson, along with costume designers Choice Seyeon and Catherine George, offer comments about their unique visual contributions to the film.

• Netflix Featurettes - This series of short 2017 video pieces, described pretty much in full by their individual titles, are more promotional than enlightening and offer surface-level overviews for various aspects of the production including its lead human character, visuals, on-set production, and sound design.

• Director's Diary (1:52)
• On Okja (2:29)
• Mija (1:13)
• Visual Effects (3:28)
• Dolby Atmos (1:53)

• Teaser (0:51)

• Trailer (2:09)

• Web Videos - A series of six bite-sized videos made to represent "The Mirando Corporation", including its marketing of the "Superpig" to consumers, as well as a hit piece by the Animal Liberation Front. Some are well made, but for the most part they represent a microcosm of Okja's disjointed tonal shifts.

• Superpig Infographic (0:51)
• Mirando Infomercial (1:28)
• "Deserve Less" Spot (0:32)
• "Accolades" Spot (0:42)
• My Okja (0:55)
• Mirando is Murder (1:05)

Okja 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bong Joon Ho's Okja is a passionate anti-cruelty drama with outstanding visual effects and a strong lead performance from Ahn Seo-hyun... and yet I actively disliked it more often than not. The film's sloppy tonal shifts, mixed messages, questionable script, and extremely uneven supporting performances all but sink this ship entirely, making me wonder exactly who Okja was made for. Regardless, the director's relatively strong track record in several genres with films like The Host, Snowpiercer, and Parasite -- and of course, your personal opinion of his directing style -- make this a very potent "your mileage may vary" affair, but those who have seen and enjoyed it on Netflix will certainly find Criterion's A/V presentation and bonus features worth the purchase. Newcomers should stream it first, obviously.