(SeaPRwire) – One thing you can always count on Bong Joon-ho to do is work. Even when the Oscar-winning filmmaker seems to be on hiatus or taking a break, Director Bong always devotes some part of himself to his passion for film. This love of film often shapes his daily routine — as he shared during a 2017 masterclass, his day typically starts with watching a movie. And as his latest career shift shows, this sometimes means he works on multiple films at the same time.
There was a six-year gap between the Academy Award-sweeping Parasite and Bong’s latest English-language film Mickey 17, but the director did not spend that time idling. Starting in 2019, Bong has been quietly developing an animated feature alongside screenwriter Jason Yu (director of the 2023 psychological thriller Sleep) and his long-time producing partner Seo Woo-sik. V8 Pistons Pictures has revealed a first look at the upcoming project, which will see Bong returning to the anti-industrialist themes he is best known for.
Ally does not look or sound like a typical Bong Joon-ho project at first glance, but audiences can expect the director to find plenty of ways to surprise us. The film follows the journey of Ally, a “curious and endearing” piglet squid (a real existing deep-sea creature) who dreams of escaping the uncharted depths of the South Pacific to finally see the sun and become the star of her own wildlife documentary. Her quiet, peaceful life changes overnight when a mysterious aircraft crashes nearby — but the incident also gives Ally the push she needs to set off on her journey to the surface, alongside a group of colorful companions.
According to the film’s official synopsis, Ally “explores themes of friendship and courage as encounters between humans and deep-sea creatures reshape both worlds.” It is billed as a family adventure that puts a focus on humor and emotion, and its similarities to beloved films like The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo are impossible to ignore.
That being said, Bong is widely known for portraying the harsh realities of our world, and examining how industrialism, wartime, and capitalism oppress every corner of the globe. From Okja to Snowpiercer and Mickey 17, his work never shies away from showing how the working class (and vulnerable animals) are exploited by the endlessly turning system. Could Ally feature a similarly bleak sociopolitical theme? The new animated film — which looks very warm and Pixar-like in its first revealed image — will almost certainly not be quite as dark as Bong’s most famous works, but it is safe to expect the director to strike a balance for his first animated feature.
Ally is scheduled to premiere in theaters in 2027.
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