Space Sweepers

Space Sweepers is a 2021 South Korean space western film directed by Jo Sung-hee, starring Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Seon-kyu and Yoo Hae-jin. Regarded as the first Korean film space blockbuster, it was released directly on Netflix worldwide on February 5, 2021. Premise During the year 2092, Tae-ho, Captain Jang, Tiger Park and an android named Bubs are a crew of space sweepers who live at an orbiting planet created by UTS corporation after Earth becomes uninhabitable. During their work, the crew discovers a child robot named Dorothy, who contains a weapon of mass destruction created by the terrorist group "Black Fox". They negotiate a ransom for returning Dorothy, but their plan gets foiled when UTS soldiers stage a massacre at the club where the exchange was supposed to take place. The crew must navigate the dangerous situation while also dealing with their own personal struggles. Cast Song Joong-ki as Kim Tae-ho – Former Commander of the Space Guards and the first ever UTS Genius. Kim Tae-ri as Captain Jang / Jang Hyun-sook – Former Special Forces Squad officer who later deserted her post to create her own pirate organization. She attempted to assassinate CEO James Sullivan in which her entire pirate crew were killed. Jin Seon-kyu as Tiger Park / Park Kyung-soo – Former Drug King who escaped Earth after being arrested and sentenced to death. Yoo Hae-jin as Robot Bubs – Former military robot trying to save up for a skin graft Richard Armitage as James Sullivan – The CEO of UTS and the main antagonist. Kim Mu-yeol as Kang Hyeon-u – Kang Kot-nim's father and a scientist. Park Ye-rin as Dorothy / Kang Kot-nim – First believed to be a robot, she is actually a human who was injected with nanobots by her father as a last resort to heal her. Oh Ji-yul as Kim Su-ni – Tae-ho's adopted daughter Anupam Tripathi as Sullivan's assistant Kim Hyang-gi as Bubs' new body Christian Lagahit as Restaurant manager Themes The film criticises capitalism. The process of the colonization of Mars in the film has been compared to billionaires prepping for an apocalypse. Avery Kaplan of ComicsBeat noted that "while capitalism may make the members of the Victory crew more likely to go for each others’ throats, it can't completely eradicate their intrinsic morality" and pointed to Bubs' arc as showcasing the barriers to trans healthcare that exist under capitalism.