Okja is essentially My Neighbor Totoro goes to the slaughterhouse, and I can’t decide if that’s a gross miscalculation on the filmmakers’ part or exactly the sort of twist of the knife that a biting satire needs. Directed by Bong Joon-Ho (Snowpiercer, The Host), Okja follows a young girl (Ahn Seo-Hyun) and the “super pig” of the title (think elephant size) she has been raising since birth, unaware that the creature belongs to a multinational food corporation with dinner plans. After an idyllic opening section in which Okja and her caretaker frolic in a forest, the movie barrels head-on into dark humor (and often just darkness). Tilda Swinton delights as the grandiose CEO of the corporation; Paul Dano gets giggles as a zen-like animal-rights activist; Jake Gyllenhaal raises eyebrows as a TV personality turned deranged corporate spokesman. (His broad turn would be funnier if the character made any sense.) Like most of Bong’s work, Okja veers among farce, horror, and sweetness, but this time there’s a tinge of manipulation to the dizziness, especially in a finale that takes us right into the heart of darkness. Or maybe I’m just being sensitive because I like bacon with my eggs.
