Snowpiercer director gives an exclusive sneak peek at his epic new film Okja

Don’t call Bong Joon-ho’s next film a monster movie.

Yes, the Snowpiercer filmmaker rose to international prominence with 2007’s creature feature The Host. And sure, Okja is named for another mysterious creature, but Joon-ho says, “It’s a very shy and introverted animal. It’s a unique animal that we’ve not seen before.”

The story follows Okja and Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), a young South Korean girl, and their adventure leads to New York City. In the climactic sequence storyboarded below, Lily Collins’ Red races onto the streets of Manhattan.

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“Red is part of a group of animal rights activists that figure into the story,” teases Joon-ho, who filmed in the Financial District. “On Wall Street, it’s the heart of capitalism,” the director notes. “On the surface is a story about an animal, but it’s essentially a story about capitalism.” Nothing monstrous about that!

Okja is due to arrive on Netflix this summer. See another photo of Collins as Red below.