Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Mickey 17.Bong Joon-ho’s newest movie, Mickey 17, is an impressive addition to the science fiction genre thanks to its hilariously dark plot and timely messaging. Mickey 17 stars Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, a man who signs up to be an expendable on a space colonization mission in order to avoid his debts on Earth. Joining Mickey 17‘s expendables program means that Mickey is subjected to numerous experimental missions and scientific research that sees him reprinted each time he dies. However, things get complicated when Mickeys 17 and 18 are alive at the same time.

On top of the drama caused by Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 fighting for their right to be the last surviving Mickey, the residents of the spaceship are led by Mark Ruffalo’s dictator, Kenneth Marshall, who is increasingly concerned with killing all the aliens on the planet Niflheim. While Mickey 17‘s ending does land more on the positive side, audiences are reminded throughout the movie of the dangers of unchecked power, which can be seen clearly in both Kenneth Marshall and his wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette), who pulls many of the strings.

Ylfa’s Love Of Sauce Highlights Her Privilege

She Is More Than Happy To Kill Creepers To Make Sauce

Ylfa Marshall’s continued mentions of sauce throughout Mickey 17 might seem somewhat silly at first, but there is actually a much deeper meaning behind her obsession that becomes clearer as the movie progresses. One of the most memorable scenes of the film sees Mickey 17 attending a special dinner with Kenneth and Ylfa where he is given a raw-looking steak that is apparently much better than the food he usually receives, especially since Ylfa highlights that it has a nice sauce on top.

Her repeated mentions of sauce during this scene are matched by a later scene in the film in which she cuts the tail off a creeper, one of Mickey 17‘s alien creatures, and blends it up to create another sauce. Though it is hard to see how blended raw alien would constitute a sauce at all, much less a delicious one, Ylfa insists that it is great and that the other characters should try it. Everyone around Ylfa aside from her husband appears horrified by her actions, highlighting how little she cares for other life forms.

While the scientists onboard the spaceship are not exactly the most humane individuals, as is evidenced by their treatment of Mickey, even they are surprised by Ylfa’s complete lack of care for the creepers who have not harmed them. What’s more, Ylfa’s search for the perfect sauce in a world where other inhabitants of the spaceship face half-rations and struggle to survive shows that she sees having good food as her right. Not only is she not bothered by the treatment of aliens, but she is unconcerned about the lives of her fellow humans whom she deems beneath her.

Mickey’s Nightmare Perfectly Explains Ylfa’s Thoughts On Taste

Mickey’s Nightmare Proves How Clear Her Obsession With Class Is

Though it is not exactly Ylfa, Mickey’s dream sequence at the end of Mickey 17 perfectly explains why Ylfa is so obsessed with sauce. Just before Mickey makes the final decision to blow up the human printer, he imagines seeing Ylfa standing by the printer and having a conversation with her. During this dream, she prompts Mickey to taste a new sauce and berates him for not wanting to do so, claiming that someone with his lack of sophistication would not be able to understand the complex flavors anyway.

The imagined Ylfa gets increasingly angry and divulges how she sees working-class people as being below her and having inferior taste. By her logic, sauces, and by extension all nice food, are wasted on people who cannot appreciate them, meaning that only she and her husband are worthy of such things. Since this conversation is revealed to be a dream rather than an actual interaction between her and Mickey, it showcases how he and potentially the other inhabitants of the spaceship are fully aware of how the Marshalls see them.

Food Imagery Plays A Big Role In Mickey 17

Food Stands In As A Luxury Item

Food does not immediately seem like the main concern of Mickey 17, as many other plot points gain more attention, but food imagery actually pervades the entire film. One of the first things that audiences see after Mickey joins the crew of the spaceship is his first time in the cafeteria. The food shown is very carefully measured by the calories and looks unappetizing. Many sci-fi films focus on the bizarre foods that characters eat in their unusual circumstances, but Mickey 17 really draws attention to this point.

In Mickey 17‘s dinner scene, food is lorded over the characters as a special reward and a break from the sludge that they typically eat, and the scientists make comments about their process of creating lab-grown meats. Even Mickey and Timo’s (Steven Yeun) unsuccessful business before leaving Earth has to do with food. While food-related problems plague almost all the characters, Kenneth and Ylfa are clearly exempt from these struggles. Though they are already positioned as the leaders of the colony, their access to higher-quality food gives them yet another social advantage.

Toni Collette’s Ylfa Hilariously Matches Mark Ruffalo’s Kenneth Marshall In Criticizing The Tastes Of Authority Figures

The Movie Pokes Fun At The Privilege Of Elites

Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette are both undoubtedly hilarious in their roles in Mickey 17, but the characters work far beyond the performers’ comedic abilities. The Marshalls are caricatures and amalgamations of various leaders who attempt to use charisma to influence their followers, and their use of food is just one way of doing that. The two characters very intentionally set themselves apart from the average people on the spaceship in order to make their lives more desirable.

While the Marshalls’ actions work for many of the people willing to join their voyage and blindly follow their religious message, characters like Mickey and Nasha (Naomi Ackie) fight back against their power. Since the movie is told from Mickey’s point of view, the result is often comical, as audiences can truly see how ridiculous the characters and their tastes are. Like many of Bong Joon-ho’s movies, Mickey 17 has strong social messages, and the movie’s presentation of class inequality stands out particularly well through the use of food imagery.

Fittingly, Bong’s new movie even perfectly aligns with current discussions surrounding the role of certain types of food as luxury items, such as costly organic foods being perceived differently than fast food. With rising prices, marketing campaigns for some products and brands have also turned to using food in advertisements, mirroring the sensory sentiments seen in Mickey 17. While the movie is based on a 2022 book, it is interesting to see just how much of Mickey 17 actually matches the discourses of today.