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With President Donald Trump back in the White House, all kinds of media and art will feel like it's commenting on him and his supporters. Some of it will be subtle; Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17 is not. 

The celebrated director of the scathing satire Parasite returns with a parable set in a future where Earth is a man-made global disaster. There, a failed politician, who has a penchant for pursing his lips when he makes proclamations, launches a spaceship, stocked with many of his devoted followers. They don red baseball caps embroidered with his motto and hope to create a "pure planet" in the stars. 

It's blunt. And honestly, the similarities to America under Trump might hurt any hope for escapism. But notably, Mickey 17 isn't named for the narcissistic billionaire that is its villain. This heart-wrenching and inventive adventure is named for the average Joe who dumb-lucked himself onto a spaceship and into a massive change of fate. 

Robert Pattinson brings Jackass appeal to Mickey 17.  Robert Pattinson is a human printing in "Mickey 17." Credit: Warner Bros.

The backdrop to Mickey 17 is one of global politics, economic inequality, and fearmongering as a recruiting tool. But the core of the story is a good-hearted doofus named Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson). Fleeing a merciless loan shark, Mickey takes any job he can to get off-planet, signing up to be an "expendable" without reading the fine print on his contract. What he's consented to is to become the space colony's one-man crash test dummy. He'll be killed over and over in the name of science, only to be printed out again, with all his memories (of life and death) intact. 

Despite dying being a pretty common part of his routine, Mickey builds a life with the live-wire soldier Nasha (Blink Twice's Naomi Ackie). But after a mission gone weird, he returns to their bed to find not just his lover but another him. Mickey 18 (also played by Pattinson) was printed because the crew assumed Mickey 17 was dead. More bad news: "Multiples" have a bad reputation, which means their simultaneous existence could lead to them both being killed for good, with no more human printings. 

Like Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow (aka Live Die Repeat), Pattinson plays the clown in a daffy death montage, softening the blow of his repeated demise with a mix of physical comedy and a playful score of plinking piano and swooning strings. But where Cruise's army PR man was a cocky son-of-a-bitch, Pattinson's Mickey 17 is a real Jackass. 

In an interview with Empire, Pattison said that he'd attempted to mimic Jackass star Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville in his dual roles of Mickeys 17 and 18, but Bong shot the idea down. Still, fans of the stunts-and-shenanigans franchise might well still hear Steve-O in Pattison's raspy but open-hearted tone. And it's a smart allusion, subtly calling Generation X and millennials to remember the lovable goofball who'd risk his own neck (or nutsack) to please others. It's not that Mickey thinks of himself as noble in his human guinea-pigging. He's just happy to be of use, having little thought he's good for much else. By contrast, Mickey 18 is abrasive and volatile, less inclined to bend a knee to the powers that be. To survive, they must either join forces or turn on each other. And their decisions causes an electrifying upheaval in their space colony.

Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette give Trump with a hint of Okja.  Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette play Kenneth Marshall and his wife Ylfa in "Mickey 17." Credit: Warner Bros.

The two critically acclaimed performers are smartly paired as the braggadocious Kenneth Marshall and his right-hand wife Ylfa. Where the spaceship's inhabitants eat rationed gray sludge and wear uniforms to match, these two relish their lofty status and obscene wealth, dressing in flashy suits bedecked with shiny rivets or dresses so snug and violently colored they're a visual ambush. Like he did in the sci-fi thriller Snowpiercer and the fantasy caper Okja, Bong draws a dramatic contrast between the haughty haves, who feel their desires are exactly what they are owed no matter the human cost, and the gruff but lovable have-nots, who are expected to endure on sludge and scraps. 

Ruffalo embraces the buffoonery of this political performance, wearing distractingly white veneers as he mimics Trump's signature sneer and mercurial nature. Collette's Ylfa is less obviously tied to contemporary American politics. However, her fixation on luxuries — like ornate furnishings and exotic sauces — reflects the consumeristic colonialism that Bong openly condemns across his work. There's a willful lunacy in these heightened portrayals, where the caustic couple urges each other to grisly acts of violence in the name of their planetary conquest. And yet, for as far-flung in the future as Mickey 17 is set, it doesn't feel that far away.

Mickey 17 isn't a playbook of resistance but a parable of hope.  Robert Pattinson and Naomi Ackie play lovers in "Mickey 17." Credit: Warner Bros.

When cultures clash in Bong's movies, they often do so with dark humor and some juicy genre spectacle, a kind of candy-coating to make the medicine go down more easily. Mickey 17 himself is a sugary-sweet hero, whose softness is outright derided by more cynical members of the crew. Yet, this cavalcade of clashing crew mates — including Ackie, Steven Yeun, and Patsy Ferran — bring their own tasty charms through scenes involving kinky sex, party drugs, and animal noises. Then all this is folded into an alien world, where the natives are a compelling cross between pill bugs and elephants, soft and scurrying yet potentially powerful. Unexpectedly, they become a clever mirror of Mickey 17, underestimated but ultimately extraordinary. And in that is the lesson.

Mickey 17 is not hard or smart or even particularly special. He's an average dope who has been snookered by one bad deal after another. But in Mickey 17, he is the hero, thrown into an extraordinary circumstance that challenges him to adapt or die. But adapting doesn't demand becoming hard like 18. And in that Bong offers a ray of hope for those opposing a brutal authority.

The journey Mickey goes on is winding and wild, bucking the conventional flow of a sci-fi action movie, by being only gently sci-fi and barely action. Instead, Mickey 17 plays as a political comedy with cross-genre flare, ultimately urging the audience to see the similarities, and perhaps find our own inner Mickey 17. 

Mickey 17 premieres only in theaters on March 7, 2025.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Saturday, February 15, 2025:

AcrossGoverning body of world soccer

• The answer is FIFA.

"___ is a world within itself, with a language we all understand" (Stevie Wonder lyric)

• The answer is Music.

Opposite of rough

• The answer is Gentle.

Pictures that employ the "flip camera" button

• The answer is Selfies.

Away from the ocean

• The answer is Inland.

Earthenware pot

• The answer is Crock.

Clark ___ a.k.a. Superman

• The answer is Kent.

DownCool bit of trivia

• The answer is Fun fact.

Admission of ineptitude

• The answer is I stink.

Smoothed, as fingernails

• The answer is Filed.

AAAA, in a deck

• The answer is Aces.

Pittsburgh's Carnegie ___ University

• The answer is Mellon.

Rom-com or thriller

• The answer is Genre.

"Totally awesome!"

• The answer is Sick.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Mini Crossword.

It's about to get easier to add AI-generated video into your short-form posts. YouTube announced that Shorts will integrate Veo 2 — Google DeepMind’s newest video mode — which will allow users to generate and add AI clips into their videos.

The new feature will be a part of Shorts' Dream Screen, which already lets users add AI-generated backgrounds to their posts.

Wrote Youtube in a blog post announcing the news: "Need a specific scene but don't have the right footage? Want to turn your imagination into reality and tell a unique story? Simply use a text prompt to generate a video clip that fits perfectly into your narrative, or create a whole new world of content. It’s that easy!"

SEE ALSO: YouTube turns 20 years old. Did you know it was originally a dating website?

YouTube claimed in the blog post that Veo 2 better "understands real-world physics and human movement," which should result in more detailed and accurate results. Users should also be able to create AI video that fits a specific "style, lens, or cinematic effect."

The blog post includes a (pretty cheesy) example of how creators could use the tool — a video in which a guy's dog grows to monster size.

It is both neat and a bit worrying that AI video is so easy to create. YouTube noted that AI-generated creations would feature both SynthID watermarks and clear labels. Hopefully, that will ease confusion from viewers.

For the time being, the new AI feature has been launched for users in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk has often exulted his dream of colonizing the Red Planet with 1 million people. 

But before Musk gets his Martian city, he'll have practice with one right here on Earth — that is, if all goes according to his launch company's plans. In December, SpaceX submitted a petition to turn the coastal Texas village, where the Starship factory and space port operate, into an incorporated city. Like the rocket complex, it would be named Starbase. 

The proposal reached a pivotal milestone this week. After reviewing the petition for satisfying state requirements, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. set a date for a local vote to decide whether Starbase gets municipal status. That election, to be held on May 3, appears to be a foregone conclusion. Nearly all of the voters living within the roughly 1.5 square-mile area are SpaceX employees and family members, living in company-owned houses. Out of 247 lots in the proposed city limits, only 10 are not owned by SpaceX, according to documents. 

"Starbase, Texas, will soon be an official new city," Musk said on X, the social platform once called Twitter, which he also owns. 

Surrounding residents are wary of what such a change could mean for them. Environmental activists are concerned about unchecked development, and people who live in nearby Brownsville, Texas, worry they'll lose public beach access. Furthermore, there's an air of mystery to the effort, with many wondering why the company feels the need to go this route.

SEE ALSO: Think this space station and moon photo is AI? Meet the photographer. Spectators arrive at SpaceX's Starbase for a Starship prototype launch in South Texas on Oct. 12, 2024. Credit: Sergio Flores / AFP / Getty Images

In a letter with the petition, Kathy Lueders, Starbase's general manager, said the company needs the area to have its own government in order to grow. SpaceX has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure and generated hundreds of millions in income and taxes for local businesses and government, she said. 

Through contracts, the company already provides several community services, such as road management, utilities, school provisions, and medical care. Lueders insisted that municipal status won't interfere with the "extensive list of environmental mitigations" SpaceX already has in place.  

"Incorporating Starbase will streamline the processes required to build the amenities necessary to make the area a world-class place to live, for the hundreds already calling it home, as well as for prospective workers eager to help build humanity's future in space," she wrote. 

People gather to watch a SpaceX Starship flight test on Nov. 19, 2024, near Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. Credit: Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle / Getty Images

The proposed city sits on the southern edge of Texas near the U.S.-Mexican border. In July 2024, Musk posted on X that he had reached "the final straw" in California and would be moving SpaceX's headquarters to the Texas rocket complex. 

Some have speculated SpaceX could use the municipality to leverage more public money, such as state and federal grants. Or perhaps the company wants less red tape each time it needs to shut down roads, close Boca Chica Beach, and clear nearby boats from the water for a Starship launch test. 

Regardless of outside residents' misgivings, their opinions are largely irrelevant. Only people living within the proposed city — not neighbors — can vote. As of Feb. 14, there were just 160 registered voters eligible to cast a ballot, the election administrator Remi Garza told Mashable.   

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That's the reality Tino Villarreal Jr., an at-large city commissioner in Brownsville, has tried to emphasize to his constituents. 

"This is going to happen,"  he told The Brownsville Herald. "The vote’s going to go through."

If Starbase becomes a city, it will be run by a mayor and two city commissioners. Included with the petition are three candidate applications for those positions, all seemingly unopposed. No, Musk would not be the mayor of Starbase, but a SpaceX security manager, Gunnar Milburn, is applying for the job. 

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in July 2024 he would move the company's headquarters from California to Starbase in South Texas. Credit: SpaceX

Election administrator Garza said the upcoming vote will likely enhance participation in the general election. It's the first time officials have been able to provide a polling location in that part of the county.

"Better still is that it will serve not only the residents in the area, but all the voters who work in the area, too," he told Mashable. "We are hopeful we will be able to continue serving them in the years to come during future elections."

One thing is certain: It'll be a whole lot easier to start a city in Texas than about 70 million miles away. After all, the Rio Grande Valley does have breathable air.