Okja (2017): Resisting Containment

Bong Joon-ho’s Okja (2017) has attracted sustained interest across disciplines that seldom intersect. This article reviews that scholarship by asking: How was Okja (2017) examined and reclassified in academic discourse after its release? A systematized review identified and examined key texts. Across disciplines, scholars largely agree that Okja remains compelling precisely because it resists stable categorization. The film challenges genre conventions, blurs national and platform identities, and exposes how institutions classify living things to enable disposability. Instead of framing these interpretations as competing, the review traces the film’s ongoing impact by examining the systems, institutions, and emotions that uphold categories - and the moments when Okja disrupts and unsettles them.