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Imagine another version of Robert Pattinson suddenly appearing at the same time. Throw in a wickedly comedic story about disposable employees, set in a super-tech, science-fiction version of the future. Add the Oscar-winning writer-director of the irresistible Parasite to the mix. Oh, and did we mention Brad Pitt's company Plan B is behind it?

Welcome to Mickey 17, the latest English-language film from Korean master Bong Joon Ho (who also made Snowpiercer). It comes roaring into cinemas with an almighty bang – and an equally outrageous premise.

Wanting to escape his life on Earth, Mickey (Pattinson) signs up to the Expendable programme on a space expedition to colonise a remote ice planet called Niflheim. Being an expendable means that if Mickey dies another iteration will be printed with most of the previous iteration's memories intact – making him the perfect disposable employee to test the new planet's living conditions.

From Tenet to Good Time, The Lighthouse to The Batman via the Twilight series, Pattinson has proved himself one of the most versatile actors working today, increasingly embracing the offbeat and the original. The acting challenge of Mickey 17 seems like something he was born to play and his energy here is infectious – plus we've rarely seen so much of him on screen before. It's a wickedly kooky idea and he looks like he's having a whale of a time making it swing.

The supporting cast is just as strong. Naomi Ackie, so good in Blink Twice, is Mickey's love interest, Nasha, and Steven Yeun, a standout in Nope, plays Mickey's pal, Timo. For the villains, Mark Ruffalo plays peroxide-toothed politician Kenneth Marshall, with Toni Collette as his equally demented wife, Ylfa.

To top things off, this deliriously wacky adventure is based on a novel, Mickey7, by Edward Ashton, which wowed readers and critics in 2022 and shot into many end-of-year must-read lists.

Best of all, Mickey 17 doesn't take itself too seriously, nor does it lay on the space-time jargon of the future too much. But, as with all great movies and sci-fi, it still has something to say about the world, which will leave you both wildly entertained and thinking about life beyond these shores.

Blasting off into space in search of new life on other planets isn't simply the stuff of fantasy any more – or at least, it might not be, particularly if we find a way to replicate ourselves in a meaningful way. Can you imagine having a doppelganger wreaking havoc out there in space? You can now.   Ed Gibbs

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