Bong Joon-ho directs Ahn Seo-hyun, Paul Dano and Jake Gyllenhaal in this disturbing adventure about a girl who races across the globe to stop her genetically modified giant pig from being exploited by the corporation who created it. 

So glad I have given up meat before watching this. It can be harrowing for prolonged periods, both visually and to your guilt gland – a veritable porky Schindler’s List by the end. Aside from the brutality of flesh harvesting, envisioned convincingly and disturbingly, it is quite the satirical romp. Choppy though, the humour never syncs with the action, which never aligns with the emotionally open drama. But that is par for the course for Bong Joon-ho. What makes up for all the manipulation and unevenness is the dedicated supporting performances. It is almost as if creepy Dano and attractive Gyllenhaal have swapped their stock roles here and both work fine against type. Swinton is also fantastic in dual villian roles – matching her outstanding work in Snowpiercer. Okja, unusually for an adult arthouse fantasy, harks back to the kind of kid’s films I grew up on, a contemporary quest to save the loveable animal. Better than E.T., darker say than D.A.R.Y.L. ,essentially we get a vegan polemic for The Goonies generation now we are going grey and giving more of a shit about our legacy.

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