He’s been everything from a cryptid to Hollywood’s sweetheart. You can’t deny that the man’s got range.

Starring in hit franchise films like Harry Potter, Twilight and The Batman, as well as cult-classics like Good Time and The Lighthouse, Robert Pattinson has successfully established himself in the popular cinematic zeitgeist over the last twenty years. He’s worked with legends like Willem Dafoe, Ralph Fiennes, Cillian Murphy and Uma Thurman, proving time and again that he’s a force to be reckoned with—both commercially and artistically. 

After first coming onto the scene as a teenage-heartthrob in Twilight, Pattinson was defined by his brooding romantic character, Edward Cullen. The Twilight saga amassed over 3 billion dollars worldwide, and made Pattinson one of the most widely-discussed celebrities on the planet for nearly a decade. 

After the craze of Twilight finally died down, audiences began to see the emergence of the Pattinson we know today. Going from a dazzling—some would say sparkly—leading man to an absurd, idiosyncratic performer known for consistently making compelling career choices. He flipped the world’s perception of him on its head, taking on more understated roles. His ability to completely transform himself in every part he takes on has only become more defined with the passing of time. From comedy to romance to existential dread, his filmography contains it all, and demonstrates his deep commitment to telling thought-provoking stories. 

Most recently, he’s taken on the challenge of playing multiple characters in one film. Mickey 17 is a science-fiction black comedy film written, produced and directed by Oscar-award-winning auteur Bong Joon Ho, based on the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. 

It’s a witty satire overlaying a bleak premise: what would immortality look like in a world driven by an exploitative social structure? It explores the moral ambiguity of a future in which the elite can casually use unlimited human experimentation for the sake of capital expansion.

Set 30 years in the not-so-distant future, the film follows Pattinson’s character, Mickey Barnes, a man who flees mob-persecution on Earth by joining a spaceship on course to colonize a distant planet. Barnes and his friend Timo—played by the charming Steven Yeun—leave the planet in search of new futures. Timo ends up working as a pilot while Barnes signs up to be an “expendable”—a disposable class of workers that die on a daily basis for the sake of furthering scientific research. 

At the heart of Barnes’ new colony is a fanatic world leader, obsessed with conquering a new planet and forging a new race of human life, spouting incoherent proclamations and mandates and ruling with an unhinged fervor. He upholds a dehumanizing status quo, keeping himself and the elite at the top, and reducing expendables like Barnes to little more than livestock. 

Barnes is a sad and pitiable man with an even more pitiful life, doomed to die and be reprinted every day for the sake of science. Working as a lab rat for the colony’s research team, every aspect of his life is marred by his status and occupation. He trudges through his deaths, haunted by past mistakes and believing his hellish fate is some sort of cosmic punishment. With more compassion for aliens than himself, he’s resigned himself to acting as fodder for the colony, never once considering the inhumanity of it all. 

During a routine exploration on the new planet, Barnes is mistakenly pronounced dead, prompting a new printing. This brings Barnes—now named Mickey-17 for the sake of clarity—face-to-face with the newest iteration of himself, Mickey-18, forcing both to grapple with the nature of their lives as expendables. 

Pattinson stretches his acting chops masterfully in the film, acting as both the flighty Mickey-17 and the stoic Mickey-18. Every aspect of the two characters is opposing, from the timbre of their voices to their distinct gaits. If they didn’t share the same face, I might have been convinced they were played by two entirely different actors. 

The film is a great balance of dark humor and political commentary, with on-the-nose satire and physical comedy sprinkled considerably throughout. Bong Joon Ho and Pattinson ensured that the audience would never not feel the weight of the moral and ethical failings of this futuristic society. They presented a disturbingly familiar world wrapped in an engaging premise and surreal packaging, and forced their audience to confront the ethical and philosophical implications of unchecked technological progress and expansionism.

Mickey 17 explores the value of a single life in a system that treats individuals as if they were infinitely replaceable. It navigates themes like identity and autonomy in a unique way, with Pattinson grounding each iteration of Barnes in a shared and palpable sense of despair. His performance embodies both slapstick comedy and aching tragedy in a truly human way. 

Pattinson’s work in this latest film has exemplified his impressive range as an actor, highlighting his voice work, physicality, and ability to display nuance in every character choice. His return to the limelight is well deserved and well earned, and has really shown that his initial stardom was no fluke. This is a new benchmark in the timeline of his work, one that has truly shown the world what he’s capable of.

The most interesting thing about Pattinson and his career is that, with his track record, you really have no idea what could possibly come next but regardless, I’m excited to see.