WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH OKJA RIGHT NOW

By Milana Prakash (Team Creative)

Netflix’s highly anticipated film ‘Okja’ finally released on the online streaming platform earlier this week. It explores the story of a super pig, Okja (A product of genetic experimentation done by a corporate giant in the US) who lives with her best friend Mija, amidst serene hills, somewhere in South Korea. However, Okja and 26 other Super Piglets turn out to be a part of a larger contest ever since their inception. More importantly, Okja is the prized winner of the contest, which leads upto her being taken away from Mija to New York. The film is largely humorous but at the same time exposes some of the morbid secrets of the slaughter industry and tells a tale of true compassion and love, between a beast and a human.

Here are 5 reasons why you need to watch it right now:

1)  The star cast. The film features Hollywood biggies like Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Lily Collins and Jake Gyllenhaal. In addition to that, the film also features a young South Korean actress, Ahn Seo-hyun, who plays a pivotal role (She’s awfully adorable and a terrific performer).

2)  The film features a CGI Super Pig-Okja, who’ll instantly make you drown in cuteness. She’s huge, she reminds you more of a hippo, as opposed to a pig, but she’s the kind of companion you’d give anything to have. She’s loving, she’s faithful, she teems with energy and she’s utterly delightful to watch. Who knew pigs could be this adorable?

3)  It exposes the underbelly of the meat industry. The Mirando Corporation (the corporate giant in the film) shrouds its atrocities on animals and clearly clandestine genetic experiments through carefully chalked out publicity campaigns and highly manipulative PR work.  

4)  It received a 4 minute standing ovation at the end of its screening at the Cannes Film Festival 2017. Isn’t the implication self-explanatory? It’s technically brilliant. It is a Hollywood film, without for once seeming like a quintessential one; there are conversations in Korean interspersed every now and then and quite some portions of the film have been shot against the picturesque backdrop of South Korean Hills.

5)  Finally, it stimulates you to think. It’s a fun film that is heart breaking at the same time and has several important underlying messages that it hopes to convey. (It might even make you contemplate turning into a vegan.)