Mickey 17 is an excellent Bong Joon-ho film, but as a follow-up to Parasite, it may find itself to be an unlikely candidate at the Oscars. Parasite is often considered the best Bong Joon-ho film, as evidenced by its success at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020. Parasite‘s twisty ending resonated with critics and audiences alike, winning the film four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Joon-ho, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film.

As such, Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up, Mickey 17, was highly anticipated. Be it the exploration of the тιтular Mickey 17 and his other personalities, the dual performance of Robert Pattinson, Bong Joon-ho’s script and direction, or the return to the filmmaker’s wacky sci-fi roots, Mickey 17 was one film in 2025 that many were looking forward to seeing. By the time of Mickey 17‘s ending, the film proves that it was worth the excitement and is a great story in its own right. That said, those expecting an Oscar contender in the vein of Parasite may be looking for the wrong film.

Mickey 17 Is A Much More Unlikely Oscar Contender Than Parasite

Parasite Has Certain Academy Award Qualities

As alluded to, Mickey 17 is unlikely to contend at the Oscars on the same level that Parasite did. While the former certainly includes deeper thematic elements that have become commonplace in Bong Joon-ho films, they are not on the same level as Parasite. Parasite‘s exploration of several deep-rooted themes saw it resonate with Academy members, rendering it a much richer text than Mickey 17 is.

Mickey 17 is, instead, a big-budget sci-fi movie. The Academy Awards tend to recognize bigger-budget movies less anyway, but Mickey 17‘s genre-switches between dark comedy, sometimes horror, action, and sci-fi render it a more crowd-pleasing movie than Parasite was. No matter how good it is or the themes it does explore, Mickey 17 simply lacks the “Oscar-bait” feel that Parasite had due to the return to Bong Joon-ho’s roots as a sci-fi director.

There’s Only Really One Oscar Nomination Mickey 17 Could Get

Unlike Parasite’s Many Nominations

While it is admittedly early to begin thinking about 2026 Academy Award nominations, there is really only one that Mickey 17 could receive. Due to the aforementioned nature of the film as a quick-paced sci-fi dark comedy, Bong Joon-ho is unlikely to receive a Best Director or Best Writing nod. Robert Pattinson’s dual performance is great, but not at the level it could have been had the film delved deeper into the elements that could have – if they were fleshed out further – seen Mickey 17 become an Oscar-level film.

As a result, Best Picture is also an unlikely nomination Mickey 17 receives, too. Nonetheless, it could receive a nomination for Best Visual Effects. Mickey 17‘s Creeper aliens were CGI-heavy and mostly looked fantastic, as did the other sci-fi elements, such as flying ships, explosions, and otherworldly space sH๏τs. This could allow Mickey 17 to have some kind of presence at the 98th Academy Awards, though certainly not to the level Parasite did in 2020.