parasite movie review quora

It’s so clichéd at this point in the critical conversation during the hot take season of festivals to say, “You’ve never seen a movie quite like X.” Such a statement has become overused to such a degree that it’s impossible to be taken seriously, like how too many major new movies are gifted the m-word: masterpiece. So how do critics convey when a film truly is unexpectedly, brilliantly unpredictable in ways that feel revelatory? And what do we do when we see an actual “masterpiece” in this era of critics crying wolf? Especially one with so many twists and turns that the best writing about it will be long after spoiler warnings aren’t needed? I’ll do my best because Bong Joon-ho ’s “Parasite” is unquestionably one of the best films of the year. Just trust me on this one.

Bong has made several films about class (including “ Snowpiercer ” and “ Okja “), but “Parasite” may be his most daring examination of the structural inequity that has come to define the world. It is a tonal juggling act that first feels like a satire—a comedy of manners that bounces a group of lovable con artists off a very wealthy family of awkward eccentrics. And then Bong takes a hard right turn that asks us what we’re watching and sends us hurtling to bloodshed. Can the poor really just step into the world of the rich? The second half of “Parasite” is one of the most daring things I’ve seen in years narratively. The film constantly threatens to come apart—to take one convoluted turn too many in ways that sink the project—but Bong holds it all together, and the result is breathtaking.

Kim Ki-woo (Choi Woo-sik) and his family live on the edge of poverty. They fold pizza boxes for a delivery company to make some cash, steal wi-fi from the coffee shop nearby, and leave the windows open when the neighborhood is being fumigated to deal with their own infestation. Kim Ki-woo’s life changes when a friend offers to recommend him as an English tutor for a girl he’s been working with as the friend has to go out of the country for a while. The friend is in love with the young girl and doesn’t want another tutor “slavering” over her. Why he trusts Kim Ki-woo given what we know and learn about him is a valid question.

The young man changes his name to Kevin and begins tutoring Park Da-hye (Jung Ziso), who immediately falls for him, of course. Kevin has a much deeper plan. He’s going to get his whole family into this house. He quickly convinces the mother Yeon-kyo, the excellent Jo Yeo-jeong, that the son of the house needs an art tutor, which allows Kevin’s sister “Jessica” ( Park So-dam ) to enter the picture. Before long, mom and dad are in the Park house too, and it seems like everything is going perfectly for the Kim family. The Parks seem to be happy too. And then everything changes.

The script for “Parasite” will get a ton of attention as it’s one of those clever twisting and turning tales for which the screenwriter gets the most credit (Bong and Han Jin-won , in this case), but this is very much an exercise in visual language that reaffirms Bong as a master. Working with the incredible cinematographer Kyung-pyo Hong (“ Burning ,” “Snowpiercer”) and an A-list design team, Bong’s film is captivating with every single composition. The clean, empty spaces of the Park home contrasted against the tight quarters of the Kim living arrangement isn’t just symbolic, it’s visually stimulating without ever calling attention to itself. And there’s a reason the Kim apartment is halfway underground—they’re caught between worlds, stuck in the growing chasm between the haves and the have nots.

“Parasite” is a marvelously entertaining film in terms of narrative, but there’s also so much going on underneath about how the rich use the poor to survive in ways that I can’t completely spoil here (the best writing about this movie will likely come after it’s released). Suffice to say, the wealthy in any country survive on the labor of the poor, whether it’s the housekeepers, tutors, and drivers they employ, or something much darker. Kim’s family will be reminded of that chasm and the cruelty of inequity in ways you couldn’t possibly predict. 

The social commentary of “Parasite” leads to chaos, but it never feels like a didactic message movie. It is somehow, and I’m still not even really sure how, both joyous and depressing at the same time. Stick with me here. “Parasite” is so perfectly calibrated that there’s joy to be had in just experiencing every confident frame of it, but then that’s tempered by thinking about what Bong is unpacking here and saying about society, especially with the perfect, absolutely haunting final scenes. It’s a conversation starter in ways we only get a few times a year, and further reminder that Bong Joon-ho is one of the best filmmakers working today. You’ve never seen a movie quite like “Parasite.” Dammit. I tried to avoid it. This time it’s true.

This review was filed from the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7th.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

• Song Kang-Ho as Kim Ki-taek
• Lee Sun-Kyun as Park Dong-ik
• Cho Yeo-jeong as Yeon-kyo ( Mr. Park's wife )
• Choi Woo-shik as Ki-woo ( Ki-taek's son )
• Park So-dam as Ki-jung ( Ki-taek's daughter )
• Lee Jung-eun as Moon-gwang
• Chang Hyae-jin as Chung-sook ( Ki-taek's wife )
• Bong Joon-ho
• Han Jin-won

Director of Photography

• Hong Kyung-pyo

Original Music Composer

• Jung Jae-il
• Yang Jin-mo

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10 reasons why Parasite is so excellent

1. For a certain type of person, urgency will be enough. I will attempt that here. If you read writers because you trust them, allow me to thank you – I’m flattered, truly – and then implore you: Parasite , the new film from Korean director Bong Joon-ho , is a tremendous work that might be the most pleasurable experience you have in a movie theatre this year. It’s so top-to-bottom satisfying that even being completely spoiled couldn’t ruin it – but if you can come to it cold, you’ll be floored. Don’t even watch a trailer. Trust me, and go.

2. If you must know more – there will be no spoilers – the premise is simple enough. The Kim family, underemployed and eager for any opportunity to scrape together a little more cash, aren’t having the best time of things. Kim Ki-taek, the patriarch, is an unemployed driver. Together with his wife and two children, the family does odd jobs, such as folding pizza boxes. Then, an opportunity falls into his son Ki-woo’s lap when a friend offers to recommend Ki-woo to replace him as an English tutor to the daughter of the extremely wealthy Park family. Once he settles into his posh new job, Ki-woo gets an idea: What if he can trick the Parks into hiring his entire family?

3. Bong Joon-ho makes movies that ruin other movies for you. His films disregard the boundaries of genre; their characters resist familiar archetypes. Each one – be it the monster movie The Host , the science fiction thriller Snowpiercer, or the strange drama Okja – begins with one ostensible set of rules before discarding them one at a time in a way that should be disorienting. Instead, you wonder why we bother with rules at all.

4. Parasite is a movie about illusions, which is to say, it is about class and wealth. In watching it, you’ll begin to anticipate some of its jabs, and assume the direction in which it will cut. Maybe you’ll be right, for a little while. And then you won’t be.

5. Before we continue, it’s worth underlining in red ink: This movie is funny. Wickedly so. Parasite spares no one in its criticism, it dresses down every target with withering wit and ease. It’s also tense, thoughtful, humane, and perhaps frightening. If there is a feeling that a movie can elicit from us, odds are Parasite does so.

6. Much of Parasite ’s magic comes from the clever ways it puts the wealthy in intimate proximity with the sort of poor people that aren’t supposed to interact with them. Is the Kim family cheating with their gambit to become upwardly mobile? Can the Parks even be honest people with such wealth? “Money,” as one character notes, “irons out all the wrinkles”.

7. Watching this film, I think of the professors and employers and fathers of girlfriends I have stood in front of and listened to as they compliment me on being so articulate and well-spoken. I had stepped across a threshold they did not expect someone like me to haunt, and they had sized me up, and deemed me acceptable. The part that no one ever talks about is the one where I’ve sized them up too, and decided they were suckers just waiting to hear the right author mentioned, the right album, the right headlines. But that’s okay. They’re supposed to have the power in this story, and I can let them have it.

8. Maybe if the playing field was truly level we’d all eat each other just the same.

9. Few things in Parasite are as abundantly evident as the way money rewires the brains of those who have it in excess as well as those in desperate need. Wealth buys you out of the social contract – the need to behave a certain way, to tolerate others. Poverty imposes more rules, limitations and boundaries that, if unchecked, will suffocate. There is conflict in this – the wealthy become acutely aware of the inconvenience of empathy; the poor laugh darkly at those who plan for the future. “With no plan,” Ki-taek says late in the film, “nothing can go wrong… and nothing fucking matters.”

10. At one point in the film, Ki-woo gets a gift. It’s a beautiful, decorative stone that barely fits in his family’s cramped basement apartment, prone to exposure from both fumigators and pissing drunks alike. Despite his lack of space or use for it, Ki-woo quietly holds it in high regard, keeping it with him throughout the film despite its sheer size and weight. “This stone,” Ki-woo says. “It keeps clinging to me.” And then I felt a familiar fracture in my chest for envying that same stability, playing the same song for the same set of people, knowing that the game is rigged and always will be. After a while, it becomes exhausting, envying the wealthy. And accommodating them.

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The Big Picture

• Parasite explores greed and class divides, showcasing the clash between the wealthy Park family and the struggling Kim family.
• The film's shocking twist reveals a hidden man living in the Park family's basement, leading to chaos and bloodshed.
• Parasite offers a bleak and realistic ending, highlighting the idea of wealth as a prison and economic immobility as the new norm.

Bong Joon-ho ’s masterful Academy Award winner, Parasite , is a brutal satire about wealth disparity and the lengths we're willing to go to for family. One of only three movies to win both the Best Picture Oscar and the Palme d'Or , Parasite shifts from a biting dramedy to a suspenseful thriller in its second act, proving Joon-ho's affinity for humor, horror, and everything in between. Set in Seoul, South Korea, the movie follows the Kim family, who work low-income jobs and struggle to make ends meet. When son Ki-Woo ( Choi Woo-shik ) secures a gig tutoring the wealthy Park family's young daughter ( Jung Ji-so ), the Kims slowly begin to infiltrate the home, enjoying the unfamiliar luxuries afforded to the Parks. However, when the Parks' idyllic lifestyle proves to house a disturbing secret , chaos and bloodshed ensue, and we're left wondering who the parasites really are. So, how does Parasite end, and what does it mean?

Greed and class discrimination threatens the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.

What Is 'Parasite' About?

In Parasite , the Kim family's quest to overtake the Parks' home is no simple feat, and they do so by slyly getting the Parks to hire them without realizing that they're all related. Once Ki-woo gets his foot in the door by becoming Da-hye's tutor — with a certificate forged by his clever sister, Ki-jung ( Park So-dam ) — the pieces begin to fall strategically into place. Ki-woo uses his standing to introduce Ki-jung to the Parks, with her posing as a sought-after art therapist. Mr. and Mrs. Park ( Lee Sun-kyun and Cho Yeo-jeong ) quickly hire Ki-jung to help their young son, Da-song (Jung Hyeon-jun), who has recently been traumatized after seeing a "ghost" in their kitchen.

The Kim kids then frame the Parks’ driver for being a creep, which allows them to bring in their own father, Ki-taek ( Song Kang-ho ), for the job. Finally, the Parks let go of their longtime housekeeper, Moon-gwang ( Lee Jung-eun ), after Ki-jung exploits Moon-gwang's peach allergy to make it look like she has tuberculosis, paving the way for the Kims’ mother, Chung-sook ( Jang Hye-jin ), to get the gig. The Parks don’t learn that the Kims are related , and the Kims enjoy their time in the Park house, particularly when the wealthy family leaves for a trip.

Who Is the Man in the Basement in 'Parasite?'

Everything seems to be going fine until Moon-gwang returns to the house, claiming to have left something behind. In Parasite 's iconic, shocking twist , said "something" turns out to be Moon-gwang's husband, Geun-se (Park Myung-hoon), who, unbeknownst to the Parks, is living in a secret bunker in the basement , and is revealed to be the "ghost" that Da-Song saw one night when he was sneaking into the kitchen for food.

When the Kims threaten to expose and expel Geun-se, Moon-gwang in turn threatens to expose their familial status to the Parks, which she learns of after hearing them talk to one another. For a while, Moon-gwang and Geun-se get to live the high life until they are overpowered by the Kims, leading to an altercation that leaves Moon-gwang dead and Geun-se once again left in the basement. The Parks return early from their trip due to a storm, so the Kims are forced to leave and sleep in a gymnasium because their basement apartment has been flooded.

What Happens to the Family in 'Parasite'?

Parasite 's pulse-pounding climactic scene finds the Kims being invited to Da-song's birthday party at the Park house. Ki-woo sneaks into the basement to finish off Geun-se once and for all by bludgeoning him with a scholar's rock, but Geun-se, wanting to avenge his wife, escapes by violently cracking Ki-woo in the head instead. Continuing his rampage, a bloodied and terrifying Geun-se bursts out into the sunshine of the backyard birthday party, fatally stabbing Ki-jung and re-traumatizing Da-song before being killed by Ki-taek. When Ki-taek hears Mr. Park, talking about Geun-se's "poor man's smell" (a trait that Mrs. Park earlier commented on regarding Ki-taek), he kills him, too. As the party devolves into hysteria, Ki-taek flees the scene. Ki-woo wakes up sometime later in the hospital having sustained a severe head injury, with his sister dead, his father missing, and himself and his mother being convicted of fraud .

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Sometime later, Ki-woo returns to look at the Park house, where another family has since moved in. He discovers a light flickering in Morse Code, deciphering the message and learning that his father is now living in the house's basement, having had to go into hiding after killing Mr. Park. We then see a sequence where Ki-woo makes enough money to buy the house and free his father. However, it's quickly revealed that the scenes of Ki-woo buying the house are just in his imagination . We’re brought back into reality by the closing shots of the film , not of Ki-woo in the house freeing his father as part of a victorious montage. Parasite ends with Ki-woo exactly where he started, back in his own basement and just as imprisoned as his father, but by economic circumstances rather than legal ones.

Why Is the Movie Called 'Parasite'?

Parasite 's double-ending is what makes it such a gut punch: it’s about a fantasy. We know that Ki-woo will never earn enough money to buy the house and free his father, because Parasite shows that economic mobility is dead. The Kims aren’t a “lazy” family who are simply avoiding hard work. They may be conniving and duplicitous, but they don’t expect others to do their jobs for them, which is more than can be said for the Parks. The Kims’ station in life is set, and it’s only through deceit that they can even come close to the wealth that the Parks possess. For their part, the movie asks if the Parks — wealthy idiots who are dependent on the lower class — are the real “parasites,” who give nothing back and don’t really care about anyone other than themselves. When the slums get flooded and people who have lost what little they had are sleeping in a gym, the Parks are more concerned about their son's birthday party than the well-being of the people they employ.

'Parasite's Bleak Ending Turns Wealth Into a Prison

The bleakness of Parasite 's ending comes from the fact that we know freeing Ki-taek is impossible. Granted, he could just turn himself in, but then he’d just be in another prison, or he’d get the death penalty, so he may as well stay in the basement. The prison of wealth is what entraps the Kims in the first place. Yes, they are “parasites” in a sense, since they feed off the wealthy Park family, but the lavishness of the Parks’ wealth was never going to come to the Kims. The idea of wealth becomes both a fantasy and a prison for the Kim family — something they’ll chase but never achieve. They’re stuck where they are: Ki-taek in a basement, and Ki-woo only able to look at the house from a distance.

These days, there’s a lot of talk about “income inequality”, which is an oddly hopeful phrase, because it implies that we can just rebalance the scales somehow through economic programs and government intervention. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is far more pessimistic, arguing that economic immobility is the new normal , and that those who are born poor will die poor and those who are rich will die rich. The fantasy of upward economic mobility is Ki-woo’s fantasy. If it was as simple as just getting rich and buying that house, why would he have been living in a slum in the first place? It’s a nice thought that he could become rich and buy the house to free his father, and they’d all live happily ever after, but that’s never going to happen. We’re all trapped where we are.

Parasite is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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What is ‘parasite’ really about.

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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 19: Bong Joon-Ho attends the press conference held for cast and crew ... [+] of 'Parasite' on February 19, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.(Photo by THE FACT/Imazins via Getty Images)

After the Academy's surprisingly well-judged crowning of Parasite as Best Picture (a major step up from Green Book ), the film has fueled interesting conversations on social media, along with some silly arguments.  

Parasite ’s message isn’t particularly subtle; the meaning is right there in the title, yet some seem to be misinterpreting the story as a condemnation of the working class, rather than an anti-capitalist narrative that depicts the wealthy as parasitic, and the working class as, quite literally, struggling to keep their heads above water. 

Parasite tells the story of a poverty-stricken family, the Kims, who cunningly place themselves in the service of the Parks, an obscenely wealthy household who have been unknowingly harboring a stranger in their basement for years.

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The basement-dwellers could be easily viewed as parasitic, along with the Kims; the two families rely on the Parks for income, food and shelter, and enter their house deceptively, aggressively competing with each other.

Parasite outlines how the working class are forced into conflict against one another, fighting for scraps, while families like the Parks live a comfortable life, fueled by the labor of the many individuals working beneath them. 

The Parks are not depicted as villains, but in their naivety and casual entitlement, their parasitic nature is laid bare. The rainstorm that floods the Kim’s house with sewage, followed by the extravagant birthday party for a spoiled child, being raised to believe he is an artist (while being taught by a genuinely talented artist) clearly illustrates the imbalance. 

That’s a surface reading of the film, one outlined by director Bong Joon-ho, and shouldn’t really be a point of contention:

"Because the story is about the poor family infiltrating and creeping into the rich house, it seems very obvious that Parasite refers to the poor family, and I think that's why the marketing team was a little hesitant. But if you look at it the other way, you can say that rich family, they're also parasites in terms of labor. They can't even wash dishes, they can't drive themselves, so they leech off the poor family's labor. So both are parasites."

I’d like to offer my personal interpretation; to me, Parasite was a story about imposter syndrome. 

Brutally highlighted in the closing scene, it’s heartbreakingly clear that Ki-woo is never, ever going to be able to afford the house his father is trapped in. This isn’t due to his lack of talent or intelligence; after all, he and his sister Ki-jeong managed to perfectly orchestrate a devious plan, running in circles around a man boasting an excessive income. It’s simply because he wasn’t born into the right family. 

Ki-woo and Ki-jeong were able to secure their tutoring positions solely due to a recommendation, rather than their forged documents. In the inner circles of the wealthy (and outside), connections are often more important than ability, and qualifications. 

Ki-jeong might have been lying about her art therapy, but the child she was tutoring didn’t even need therapy; he was just some entitled kid playing up his quirky personality, likely destined for a career in the art world, regardless, cushioned by the wealth and influence of his parents.

Meanwhile, Ki-jeong, a gifted artist (and forger), starts the film living in a derelict basement and winds up dead, her talent attracting nothing but misfortune. The big deception of the story was the hiring of the family, yet none were technically unqualified for their positions. Much of the tension stems from the fact that the Kims do not belong, and yet, they do; they just happened to find an unorthodox entry point. 

This theme is underlined when Ki-woo is in the hospital, and he can’t help but laugh at the sight of his doctor and the detective questioning him. While the doctor chalks his laughter up to brain damage, Ki-woo seems to be laughing at the absurdity of it all, the stark divisions between class and profession revealed as an illusion. 

In his inner monologue, Ki-woo mentions that neither the doctor or detective look suited to their positions, and the detective's childish uncertainty hints that perhaps he really is out of his depth. The absurdity of society, the myth of the meritocracy, have been laid bare to Ki-woo; perhaps everyone is faking it, to a certain extent, just as he and his family once did. 

The film seems to be questioning the notion of education, intelligence and determination providing class mobility. Is success truly organic, or is it mostly due to the circumstances of one’s birth? Some of the best scenes in the film show the Kim’s barely concealing their deception, keeping it together in front of the eternally oblivious Parks. 

I think these scenes highlight something that many of us feel, that the world is filled with people (especially those that hold powerful positions of authority), that simply aren’t “qualified” for their role. 

At least we can agree that Bong Joon-ho is not one of those people.

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Parasite (2019) – Film Review

A Masterclass In Tone & Style

I’ve watched thousands of films in my life. One of the joys with being a reviewer is being exposed to so much content – both good and bad – and constantly finding titles that stand out for either the right or wrong reason. Out of the many films I’ve had the pleasure of watching, I can count on my fingers the number I’d confidently give a perfect score to. Parasite, on the surface, feels like a very simple thriller asking some complicated questions about hierarchy and class. As the film progresses however, this Korean picture not only subverts expectation, it does so with such artistic flair and grace that it effortlessly combines and blends numerous tones and genres together in stunning fashion.

I won’t spoil too much of the plot but the main story revolves around two very different families. Ki-Taek and his family live in the basement, barely able to survive and ekeing out a living folding pizza boxes for scraps. By contrast, Mr Park lives a dream life, boasting a magnificent house, a trophy wife and two talented children. When both of these families find their fates intertwined, what follows is a journey across different film genres, beginning as a drama, then moving into comedy territory with sprinklings of romance, right the way through to dabbling in thriller and horror. All of this is achieved effortlessly across the film’s 130 minute run-time.

Going into Parasite I was admittedly sceptical over the lavish praise heaped on this film. After watching this one, even with a critical lens from the beginning, I now understand just why this picture was so highly regarded. Beyond the surface-level plot is an entire subtext of social themes screaming out through every deliberately composed scene. From the numerous instances of verticality used to show the different class structure at work, through to the use of classical music throughout some of the more intense segments, Parasite knows exactly what it’s doing and it does so with such class that it makes this film so much more enjoyable and meaningful.

The characters themselves all have fleshed out arcs too and although Ki-Woo, Ki-Taek’s son, is arguably the protagonist for much of the film’s run-time, there’s a good balance of character between both families that help sell the ideas being presented here. The subversion of expectations plays a huge part too and around the halfway point of the film, Parasite guides you down a seemingly familiar path before pushing you down darkened stairs and slamming your head into a completely different genre. It’s masterfully crafted and this careful balance of plot and character is partly why the film works as well as it does.

I could sit here all night talking about the themes of class cropping up in every conversation and idea of the film but to be honest, the visuals and sharp editing speak for themselves. The film’s climax does a wonderful job in building up to the crescendo of the drama and with it, more thought provoking questions are raised around the working rat race and society’s desire for us all to fit in and keep quiet. All of this combines to make for a film that can easily be enjoyed as a stand-alone thriller but also as a deliciously meaty piece of art worth dissecting and examining too.

Parasite is quite simply the best film of 2019 and one of the finer examples of mainstream cinema not being completely devoid of creativity. This is a film that takes you on an emotional journey and whether it be holding your breath during a tense segment or laughing along with the comedy early on, Parasite is a masterclass in tone and style, and a film I’m not going to forget in a hurry. An absolute must-watch, if you haven’t seen Parasite already, do yourself a favour and watch it.

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Parasite REVIEW

Director: Bong Joon-ho. Cast: Woo-sik Choi, Kang-ho Song, Yeo-Jeong Cho

Running time: 131 mins. Censor: R13 Violence, offensive language & sex scenes.

TOBY WOOLLASTON focuses his senses on Parasite, a darkly funny and fiercely intelligent masterpiece from Korea that really gets under your skin.

Korean director Bong Joon-ho has once again lanced the infected boil on the bum of society: inequality. Those who saw his sci-fi action-thriller Snowpiercer (which cut a strikingly violent image of a class system gone awry) will know he isn’t a stranger to the topic.

While far less abrasive, Bong’s latest, this year’s Palme d’Or winning Parasite , is no less pointed. Rather, this time he gives us the same critical castigation cloaked in the tranquility of a present-day urban setting.

Bong brings an uneasy mix of dark comedy and caustic ideas to his story about a family of four who wrestle with poverty, greed and dignity. Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi), a street-wise teenager, lives with his family within the bowels of the city’s “lower class”, wallowing (literally at times) in the filth, vomit and excrement that seemingly pools on their doorstep.

But fortune (and a bit of creative forgery) lands Ki-woo a job uptown at the wealthy Park family residence. As he ingratiates himself into the family’s trust he manages to engineer (again, via deceitful means) jobs within the household for the rest of his own family to occupy.

The aptly titled Parasite is indeed a double-entendre that perfectly describes the two families’ symbiotic relationship. However, all is not as it seems at the Park mansion and Bong, whose camera begins to spit and sputter to life, appears to delight in slowly exposing the rotting underbelly of their newfound life.

Exhilarating and thrillingly portrayed, Parasite is elevated by some jaw-dropping scenes, employing to maximum effect Bong’s skill as a visual director as well as his dextrous use of satire to illuminate the more unsavoury side of class-politics.

In many ways, it casts a striking resemblance to last year’s Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters, and also gives a quiet nod to Jordan Peele’s slick modern horror, Us . Nonetheless, Parasite remains a unique parable of the haves and have-nots – a resonant masterpiece that, like its name, gets under your skin but leaves you the richer for it.

* Parasite screens from Thursday, June 27 in New Zealand.

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Toby is currently a film reviewer for the New Zealand Herald and NZME’s regional media. A film enthusiast since Alien made him shit his pants as a nine-year-old, Toby recently completed a Masters thesis on the phenomenology of the cinema of Darren Aronofsky. So he is well qualified to tell you that phenomenology is a load of boring bollocks… but Aronofsky is quite interesting.

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Review: Thrilling and devastating, ‘Parasite’ is one of the year’s very best movies

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The first thing you see in Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” a thriller of extraordinary cunning and emotional force, is an upper window in a tiny underground apartment. From this high, narrow vantage the Kims, a resilient family of four, peer onto a grubby Seoul street strewn with garbage bags and electrical wires — an ugly view made worse by a drunk who often turns up to relieve himself right outside. Sometime later the Kims will stand before a much larger window, as big and beautiful as a cinema screen, in an enormous house with a gorgeous sunlit garden. It’s not just a different view; it’s a different world.

From the outset of this deviously entertaining movie, which recently became the first South Korean film to win the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes, every detail of the Kims’ hardscrabble existence is on blunt display. In an early scene, high school graduate Ki-woo (Choi Woo Shik) and his sister, Ki-jung (Park So Dam), scurry around their cramped bathroom with their phones held aloft, hunting for a free Wi-Fi signal. You register the clutter of their apartment with its discarded clothes, mildewed tiles and skittering stinkbugs. You watch the Kims fold and assemble pizza boxes for a nearby restaurant, the closest any of them has recently come to landing a job.

But you also notice the close bonds between brother and sister, as well as the easy rapport they share with their boisterous father, Ki-taek (Song Kang Ho), and sharp-witted mother, Chung-sook (Chang Hyae Jin). Living together in close quarters has bred in them a matter-of-fact intimacy and a wily self-sufficiency.

Bong has never been one to ennoble or romanticize his characters’ poverty, but he does invest them with a terrific rooting interest. “Parasite,” with its tough, unsentimental view of people doing what they must to survive, initially suggests an evil twin to “Shoplifters,” Hirokazu Kore-eda’s lovely drama about a family of petty thieves (which, incidentally, won the Palme last year).

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But the movie swiftly establishes its own unpredictable agenda not long after Ki-woo inherits an English tutoring job from a college-student friend (Park Seo Joon). The pupil in question is an upper-class teenage girl, Park Da-hye (Jung Ziso), and their lessons will take place in the gated modernist fortress she calls home. Ki-woo just barely manages to keep a lid on his awe the first time the Parks’ formidable housekeeper, Moon-gwang (Lee Jung Eun), ushers him inside. Designed and formerly inhabited by a famous architect, the house is a masterwork of real-estate pornography with its beige walls, marble floors and vast, cavernous spaces.

But it is also a warren of secrets, full of telling details that Bong, a superb storyteller and a master of camera movement, unwraps with elegance and economy. (The cinematography is by Hong Kyung Pyo.) He calls your attention to the toy arrows fired by Da-hye’s younger brother, Da-song (Jung Hyeon Jun), and also to a framed magazine article about her father, Dong-ik (Lee Sun Kyun), a millionaire tech titan. But no one embodies the family’s glossy pretensions more nakedly than Dong-ik’s wife, Yeon-kyo (Cho Yeo Jeong), whether she’s idly stroking one of the family’s three dogs or peppering her everyday speech with English affectations.

Yeon-kyo’s breezy entitlement hides a naive, nervous streak, and Cho’s performance suggests just how gullible and vulnerable the very rich can be behind their high-tech security systems. When Yeon-kyo lets drop that her mischief-making young son is in need of an art tutor, Ki-woo, thinking fast, suggests a distant acquaintance for the job — and, within days, has succeeded in installing his sister in the house as well. Ki-jung, the most intuitive grifter in a family full of them, shows up with a coolly professional demeanor and a mouth full of therapeutic gobbledygook. (She got it all from Google, she later announces to her family’s amusement.)

The Kims enjoy their sudden boost in income, but their ambitions — and the dramatic stakes — only escalate from there. I wouldn’t dream of disclosing the stunning, multilayered surprises that await you in “Parasite,” though it gives away nothing to note that it’s about two families on warring sides of the class divide. Certainly it says nothing about the dexterity with which Bong shuffles tones, moods and genres, or the Hitchcockian precision with which he and his co-writer, Han Jin Won, have booby-trapped their narrative. Taking cues from classics of domestic intrigue such as Kim Ki-young’s “The Housemaid” (1960) and Joseph Losey’s “The Servant” (1963), they send this domestic drama vaulting into satire, suspense, terror and full-blown tragedy.

The first hour or so of “Parasite” is simply the most dazzling movie about the joys of the con I’ve seen in years. It’s a heist thriller of the quotidian, in which no everyday object — a piece of fruit, a child’s drawing — is too trivial to be weaponized. Bong, his camera at once ecstatic and controlled, brings the pieces together with the brio of a conductor attacking a great symphony. But even as he lures us into a wicked sense of complicity with the Kims, he also suggests that they aren’t the only ones with something to hide.

As this allegory of class rage plays out, you may find yourself wondering about the exact meaning of the movie’s title. At first it seems the parasites must be the lowly Kims, who are so interdependent that they often seem less like individuals than members of a single, unified organism. (Watch the way they sometimes squat and crawl around in private, like stealthy four-legged insects — or perhaps just people accustomed to low ceilings.) But then, surely the title more truthfully describes the Parks, whose lives of extravagant luxury represent the real moral and financial scourge in a ruthless late-capitalist society.

Yet Bong refuses the crutch of an easy target. He peels back the layers of privilege to expose the tremendous sadness and patriarchal cruelty of the Park household, where Yeon-kyo lives in fear of her husband and instinctively prioritizes her son’s needs over her daughter’s. The Kims are a model of functionality and egalitarianism by comparison, and while they may covet their employers’ prosperity, there is never any real doubt here about which is the more loving, stable family unit.

Bong has never been one for uncomplicated heroes or easy villains: Think of the sympathetic grotesques Tilda Swinton played in “Snowpiercer” and “Okja,” the dystopian eco-thrillers the director made before this film. He has always had a knack for fusing genre pleasures and liberal polemics, as he did in his brilliant 2006 monster movie, “The Host.” With their cleverly linked titles and their shared star (Song, one of Korea’s best actors), “The Host” and “Parasite” feel like natural companion pieces, right down to the haunting echoes in their respective final shots: At heart, they’re both movies about downtrodden families doing what they must to survive in a cold, indifferent world.

What distinguishes “Parasite” even within Bong’s body of work is its discipline: This is a tighter, more intimately scaled picture than “Snowpiercer” and “Okja,” and it proceeds like clockwork without ever feeling airless or mechanical. That’s a tribute to the note-perfect ensemble, especially Park So Dam, Cho Yeo Jeong and the astonishing Lee Jeong Eun as three women driven to three unique states of desperation. But it’s also a tribute to a filmmaker whose understanding of the world is as persuasive in its cruelty as it is trenchant in its humanity. “Parasite” begins in exhilaration and ends in devastation, but the triumph of the movie is that it fully lives and breathes at every moment, even when you might find yourself struggling to exhale.

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(In Korean with English subtitles) Rating: R, for language, some violence and sexual content Running time: 2 hours, 11 minutes Playing: ArcLight Cinemas, Hollywood, and the Landmark, West Los Angeles

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The ferocious, chilling Parasite is an essential thrill ride about social inequality

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The upstairs-downstairs construct — in which the literal levels of a house demarcate the differences between the wealthy and those who serve them — has long worked as shorthand for class division and struggle. (See: every British period drama, ever.) The “upstairs” people are comfortable, happy, and prefer to be oblivious to what’s going on “downstairs” with the hired help, who do their work and live their lives invisibly alongside.

In Parasite , Korean horror master Bong Joon-Ho ( The Host , Snowpiercer ) draws on that visual metaphor for a twisty, pummeling thriller that’s among his best work. It’s thematically familiar territory for Bong; his films always pair heart-stopping and imaginative terror with humor and a healthy dose of raging at inequality. Parasite feels in many ways like the culmination.

That’s partly because Bong is working at the top of his game, constructing with his cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo a world where drastic shifts occur between the insides of houses that don’t just signify changing living conditions but the interior state of the inhabitants. Everything on these characters’ insides shows up outside, too — and that may be why their world is in chaos.

Parasite is a tale of two families in a symbiotic relationship

It’s not wise to say too much about the plot of Parasite , because its jarring left turns are what make it so pointedly critical of the vast inequalities in its world and, perhaps more importantly, the inability of the haves to recognize how their lives affect the have-nots.

But it starts out like a satirical story of grifters — specifically, the Kim family, who aren’t poverty-stricken yet but are definitely headed that way. The four of them, two parents and two university-aged children who can’t possibly afford university, live in a dingy apartment that’s half below-ground. They have to peer out their high windows to see what’s happening on the sidewalk directly outside. The Kims scrape to make ends meet, folding pizza boxes to earn a little cash and running around the apartment chasing wifi signals from the coffeeshop next door. When the fumigator comes by to spray the streets, they open their windows, hoping to kill some of the vermin that live in there with them.

One day, son Ki-woo (Choi Woo-sik) is given a great opportunity: His friend is leaving a job tutoring a wealthy teenaged girl in English and would like to recommend Ki-woo in his place. Ki-woo agrees, introduces himself to the Park family as “Kevin,” and starts tutoring Da-hye (Jung Ji-so), who promptly falls in love with him.

Through some fortuitous events and also some mild-to-moderate lying, Ki-woo soon succeeds in getting the Parks to hire the rest of his family members, too — his sister (Park So-dam) as an art tutor to Da-hye’s younger brother, his father (Song Kang-ho) as chauffeur to the wealthy entrepreneur father, and his mother (Jang Hye-jin) as housekeeper — all without the Parks quite realizing they’ve hired an entire family. Everyone seems happy. Everything is good in the world.

Until it all goes very, very sideways.

Parasite is an unpredictable, thought-provoking masterpiece about inequality

Bong’s films are always hilarious and farcical, almost slapstick and then violent. There are no real heroes but few true villains; people do ignoble things to one another but you kind of get the reason why. Everyone in a Bong Joon-ho film is, at least to some degree, the victim of his or her circumstances. They’re cogs in a much, much larger machine — or to put it another way, just creatures living in an ecosystem they cannot possibly control.

Parasite feels like the movie the director has been training to make throughout his entire career. It’s a movie about the ugly, brutal hilarity of modern life, where some people get to live out in the open and others are forced into the shadows, but everyone’s sucking one another’s life blood. The fun in unraveling Parasite is figuring out just who the title is about and why they’re the parasite here. (It seems not entirely coincidental that one of Bong’s earlier breakout hits was the fabulous 2006 monster movie The Host .)

The movie serves up a rich stew of caustic wit and catastrophe, and watching the spaces the characters move through is a key to making it all work, from the dingy dirt of the Kims’ half-basement home to the Parks’ spacious and airy house, built as a work of art by a famous architect. The contrast is a stark reminder to the Kims of what they could have and how they assume it would make them feel if they did.

And yet Bong and co-writer Han Jin-won don’t fall into stereotypes of haves and have-nots , either. This is not a movie about how rich people are actually miserable. Whether it’s because of their surroundings or just a coincidence, the Parks seem to live an untroubled and happy existence; their crime is in being so comfortable that they can’t really imagine anyone is struggling. And the Kims are not made saints by their poverty, either.

Combine those characters with an unpredictable plot and Parasite emerges as a masterpiece. It’s also an exemplary specimen of a kind of movie that’s proliferated this year — movies like Knives Out and Ready or Not and Joker and many, many others , each about the mounting gap between the rich and the rest of the world. It’s been a marked trend, and Parasite is one of the finest, probably because Bong knows his way around a visual metaphor (and as the movie goes on, it’s a lot more than just the houses). No wonder the movie won the Palme d’or at Cannes in May .

And while it’s hugely entertaining, Parasite is also thought-provoking. By the time the catharsis arrives, you think you’re at the end of the film, but a coda adds a new wrinkle to the whole thing. If a parasite eventually takes over its host, then what will happen to a world where everyone, in some way, is a parasite for someone else?

Parasite premiered at Cannes in May and played at the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, among others. It opens in theaters on October 11.

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Movie Reviews

Movie review: 'parasite'.

Bob Mondello

Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho has made a South Korean social satire that's also a genre-bending Palme d'Or-winning thriller of class struggle.

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[Movie Review] Parasite is a disquietingly brilliant critique of our times

Director Bong Joon-ho’s ( Memories of Murder, Okja ) darkly funny social satire, Parasite , has been getting the highest of accolades since its premiere earlier this year, and I’ve been waiting impatiently for it to finally come to my area. Starring Bong’s frequent leading man Song Kang-ho , as well as Jo Yeo-jung, Park So-dam and Choi Woo-shik , the film is an intense, brutal takedown of the absurd tragedies of wealth inequality in late-stage capitalism that will make you gasp as often with unexpected laughter as with alarm and delight at its unending twists.

Without spoiling the movie, the story revolves around Choi and Park’s characters, siblings who live a miserable existence in a squalid basement apartment, their entire family of four unable to find work in what young Koreans colloquially call Hell Joseon. The kids start a chain of events that lead to the four of them getting increasingly entangled with the lives of a rich family, and as the movie progresses these encounters ramp up in a slow, tense escalation that explosively comes to a head in the third act.

Bong has said in interviews that, as a writer-director, he tends to have a clear idea of the sights and sounds that he envisions for the film, meticulously storyboarding scenes far in advance (although he doesn’t hold himself to every particular on the day of shooting). That care and attention to detail are clear in the visual complexity and careful framing of every shot; the visual field and soundscape of this movie are so rich that I already want to go back and see it again. Bong’s movies are varied in scope but they share a brilliantly executed sense of low-level, building dread that almost drips from the screen, and yet never overwhelms what he’s trying to do with the story–the tension never breaks until the precise moment that he wants it to. After watching one of his works the viewer is left feeling as though they’ve been taken on a journey by a virtuoso. The powerful images and feelings it evoked in me have certainly lingered for days.

One of this movie’s many strong points is its simultaneous specificity and universality; this is at once a story about one particular family in South Korea, and a broader commentary on the degrading idols of capitalism that are literally driving people underground, sustained on the dregs and crumbs left behind by a tiny fraction of the extremely wealthy who alone in their carefree existence, untouched by the ravages of food insecurity, economic depression, even environmental disaster. And while this theme is clear to anyone who watches the film, it’s only one aspect of a movie that has multiple embedded layers of social commentary.

Take the obsession of the youngest child in the rich family with “Indians,” for example; his very privileged backyard camping trip in an imported American teepee says volumes about the levels of exploitation going on here (and who is actually the “savage” in this situation, especially when these indigenous motifs play a pivotal role in the climax of the film). Or the pointed, conscious use of English words by characters of every social class as a marker of culture, of knowledge that somehow has the potential to lift them up, rooted in the pervasiveness of American imperialism. And yet from early on, one of the characters repeatedly breaks the fourth wall by saying an object is “metaphorical,” an indirect and gentle poke at all this symbolism from the director, as if he’s winking at the analyses he knows are coming in reviews like this.

The cast are across-the-board excellent, which is no surprise given this incredible lineup. Song is his usual unquantifiable genius in the role of Choi’s father, and Lee Seon-kyun gives all the power of his unique voice and manner to the cynically suave head of the rich family. Jo Yeo-jung is fascinating in her role of the oblivious, pampered samo-nim , the epitome of what Song observes at one point about their household: they’re not nice even though they’re rich, but because they are rich.

In this cutthroat world where most people have to claw and scrape for every won, no one has that luxury except those who are so wealthy that they’re insulated from the nightmare threat of poverty. And even that “niceness” proves to be very different from goodness–although I would venture to say that no character in this film possesses the latter quality. The system itself has become so unlivable that we are becoming alienated from our own humanity, bit by bit, until we become used to living in the dark, and forget the feeling of light and freedom.

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Tags: Bong Joon-ho , Choi Woo-shik , Jo Yeo-jung , Lee Seon-kyun , Parasite , Park So-dam , Song Kang-ho

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November 5, 2019 at 10:08 AM

Great movie. As Bong Joon Ho said in an interview, there's only one country in the world now, and that's capitalism. It transcends borders and that is why Parasite has resonated so well in the US and in Europe.

Also, as an aside, Choi Woo Shik, who is great in this film, has just signed up to do a movie with Suzy directed by Kim Tae Yong (director of Late Autumn starring Hyun Bin and Tang Wei). Has he already served his military service? He was born in 1990 and it seems like a lot of contemporaries are currently enlisted (i.e Go Pyo Kyung or Park Hyung Sik) or already served (i.e. Jung Hae In and Park Seo Joon)...

soulsearch12

November 5, 2019 at 2:44 pm.

Choi Woo Shik is a Canadian citizen. He spent most of his formative years there (Middle School-College). Also he is 29 years old as of now (American age), so he is past the enlistment age for men in SK which is 28.

November 5, 2019 at 4:44 PM

I thought even if you were a Canadian citizen, if you were born in South Korea, you still had to serve. That's why some Korean-American men born in SK avoid traveling there until they pass age 35. But if Choi found a way to bypass that, then good for him.

November 5, 2019 at 5:23 PM

I think that only applies to people with dual citizenship.

November 5, 2019 at 6:56 PM

Honestly, it seems very unclear:

"According to the Overseas Emigration Law, “second-generation South Koreans” are obligated to serve only when they have reported permanent return. Therefore, if you emigrated overseas before you were six years old but you renounced your permanent residence and reported permanent return to South Korea, your military service duty will be reinstated."

http://overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-sanfrancisco-en/wpge/m_4775/contents.do

November 5, 2019 at 9:50 PM

Honestly I am a bit confused about it. I heard that recently the same thing too! But I am just confused is regarding Choi's situation, because he is 29 about to be 30 soon. If he was going to enlist, it would have been last year.

November 5, 2019 at 10:06 PM

Lee Junho was also born in 1990 and just enlisted this year. Hong Jung Hyun was also born in 1990 and will enlist soon. Lee Jong Suk was born in 1989 and just enlisted this year.

Maybe Choi wants to go to the Oscars first to see Parasite win Best Foreign Language Film...

November 5, 2019 at 10:13 PM

@fogcity Can't reply to your latest response but the whole timeline w/ enlistment is a bit confusing for me. I just knew that 28 was the cut-off date for most men. I guess we will find out by next year, if he has not enlisted by then, I guess we will know the answer lol.

November 6, 2019 at 8:14 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, people who graduate high school overseas don't have to serve? Wooshik moved to Canada when he was 10 and went to school there until university before coming back to Korea. People with dual citizenship or overseas permanent residence visa (the one Ok Taecyeon had before he gave it up in order to enlist) can choose whether to enlist or not (but they have to give up their overseas citizenship / residency)

November 6, 2019 at 9:00 PM

I don't think graduating from a foreign high school disqualifies people from military service. I think a lot of wealthy people send their children to overseas boarding schools, i.e. actor Kim Ji Seok but he still had to serve in the military.

But you're right, I think Choi Woo Shik probably hasn't given up his Canadian permanent residence visa/citizenship.

refresh_daemon

November 15, 2019 at 6:20 pm.

This only applies to those with dual citizenship or Koreans who were registered on their family's official family register. If he gave up his Korean citizenship, retains his Canadian citizenship and remains in Korea on a visa, as opposed to permanent residency (that is, reclaiming Korean citizenship), then he does not need to serve.

There is a sizable population of ethnic Koreans with non-Korean nationalities in the entertainment industry who do not have to serve mandatory military service.

There are also some rare cases where overseas Koreans who are unaware of their dual citizenship or family registration return to Korea and are surprised when they are conscripted at the airport.

November 5, 2019 at 10:17 AM

Really want to watch it but it won't be available in cinemas nereby so I'm hoping it's available somewhere online.

November 5, 2019 at 10:54 AM

it is, it has been... amazingly before it was released.

November 5, 2019 at 1:19 PM

It would not surprise me if Netflix picks it up. They have been putting a lot of attention on international content.

egads aka Dame Maggie

November 5, 2019 at 2:48 pm.

Which reminds me, the Kim Go Eun film was just released on Netflix today.

November 5, 2019 at 2:53 PM

Yay! I lover her.

frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

November 5, 2019 at 3:30 pm.

The clips I saw were stunning! I think it's going to be a really emotionally affective film.

November 6, 2019 at 6:03 PM

Hi, can someone tell me the name of this?

November 6, 2019 at 6:08 PM

Tune in for Love @drunkfairy12

November 6, 2019 at 7:12 AM

@larelle79 , it's coming to St Louis on the 14th at a cinema named Ronnie's! I can't believe we're getting it.

3 larelle79

November 5, 2019 at 10:34 am.

Lee Seon kyun and Jo Yeo jung were just fantastic as the parents Park. I was thinking the entire time with them, they are a couple that deserve each other so they will not have to inflict their being on other people. I found myself thinking about what life would be like for them after the movie ended and it wasn't pretty and also, it is what they deserved.

This was a good film and what happened is just what you expect but still shocking because the world is like that and there is that denial that some of us have thinking that it is not.

November 6, 2019 at 7:13 AM

oop, you've already seen it so never mind 😁

November 6, 2019 at 7:31 AM

I was out of town for a conference and saw it there. I will more than likely see it again.

4 Zestileigh

November 5, 2019 at 10:42 am.

I think the most poignant moment for me was at the very end.

SPOILER (though I'm keeping it vague)

That joining the system and climbing up the social ladder to become rich himself is the only thing he can think of to help his family KILLS me, because it's so accurate to real life.

November 5, 2019 at 10:46 AM

And knowing that it won't happen and is a legit pipe dream is all the more heartbreaking.

November 5, 2019 at 1:30 PM

Yes! I didn't want to spoil it in the review, but it's a perfect ending for the reasons you both mentioned. Even after all that, Ki-taek can't break free of the mental chains of the false promises of capitalism.

November 5, 2019 at 2:24 PM

And the part of his mind that does not even realize this cannot happen and also wasn't, you know who I mean, there.

Ugh, my heart for him.

November 5, 2019 at 11:13 AM

Thank you @laica <3.

I've been rooting for this movie since pre-production and then Cannes and all the way to the Oscars. Let's hope it'll be another first for South Korea.

I hope Bong's next film will be with Ha Jung-woo. I love Song Kang-ho to pieces but he has been in 5 Bong films already.

November 5, 2019 at 3:56 PM

IA. Song is the GOAT, but I would LOVE to see him work with some other South Korean talents. Primarily younger talents, that are on the rise because that would be quite huge for them.

November 5, 2019 at 6:07 PM

That's the thing with well known art-house directors like Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook and Lee Chang-dong. They have actors that they trust and they cast them over and over. It's like PD Ahn Pan-seok of television.

Ah yes IA! Any actor that gets to work with them surely benefits in some way or another. Plus, it gives them a bit of a boost international wise since their films usually gets into film festivals/awards discussion too.

Side note if this film wins/nom'd for other big categories at Oscars, I can already see a mountain tide of Korean celebs posting non stop online lol.

November 5, 2019 at 8:08 PM

He offered Choi the role in Parasite after he had a small role in Okja. If he follows the same pattern, maybe he's offered a bigger role to Park Seo Joon in his next film. But Park Seo Joon is already a big star.

November 5, 2019 at 10:00 PM

Bong has said that he likes 'ordinary' looking faces, not the high shine sheen. So he could since he spoke well of Park, but honestly I feel like it will be a mixture of well established talents that he has worked with before, and newer hotter talents. I hope some of my faves can be cast lol!

November 6, 2019 at 7:44 AM

That's not surprising and I don't see him casting actors based on their pretty face and popularity like some film directors lately. He always pick young talents like Go Ah-sung and Choi. He might cast Park So-dam again and the rest will always be his trusted veterans. I'm glad he is giving the young indie darlings of Chungmuro a chance to be noticed outside of Korea.

6 Kafiyah Bello

November 5, 2019 at 11:35 am.

I agree it was fantastic. My only question is the use of Native American imagery, was it intentional? Native Ameticans have gone through enough being used as props, so I hope that wasn't the case here.

November 5, 2019 at 11:36 AM

Yes it was. Everything about it was inappropriate, intentional and indifferent.

November 5, 2019 at 12:47 PM

Bong Jong Ho said in an interview he chose the Native American imagery as a parallel to how America/the mansion already had previous occupants but the new arrivals (the Europeans/the Kim family) came and did a hostile takeover.

November 5, 2019 at 12:53 PM

The use of Native American imagery was really a great stroke of social commentary.

November 5, 2019 at 1:34 PM

Yes! Others have already mentioned this, but in Bong's words:

"I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a commentary on what happened in the United States, but it’s related in the sense that this family starts infiltrating the house and they already find a family living there. So you could say it’s a joke in that context,” Bong says. “But at the same time, the Native Americans have a very complicated and long, deep history. But in this family, that story is reduced to a young boy’s hobby and decoration. [The boy’s mother] mentions the tent as a U.S. imported good, and I think it’s like the Che Guevara T-shirts that people wear. They don’t know the life of the revolutionary figure, they just think it’s a cool T-shirt. That’s what happens in our current time: The context and meaning behind these actual things only exists as a surface-level thing.”

Here is the interview (full of spoilers though, beware): https://ew.com/movies/2019/10/23/parasite-bong-joon-ho-ending-explained/

November 5, 2019 at 2:45 PM

I figured, because he is a very intelligent director and he would not use such imagery if there were no meaning behind it.

Can you please share the link to where he said that? Thanks!

November 5, 2019 at 3:23 PM

It's shared in the comment above yours, by Laica. https://ew.com/movies/2019/10/23/parasite-bong-joon-ho-ending-explained/

November 5, 2019 at 3:54 PM

Lol! Thanks, will check out the whole article. The explanation definitely enriches the story!

Kafiyah Bello

November 5, 2019 at 1:00 pm.

@larelle79 , @fogcity , and @egads , thank you. I wasn't sure. Good, it makes me like the movie even more.

November 5, 2019 at 1:08 PM

While Mr. Park and Mr. Kim were dressed up as Native Americans for the little boy's birthday party to ambush the son in a game of cowboys and Indians, they were ambushed by the housekeeper's husband (aka the actual "Native American"/"savage"/previous occupant in this scenario).

November 5, 2019 at 1:20 PM

And what Park said to Kim when Kim said this does not feel right.

I mean....UGH !!!!!

November 5, 2019 at 2:28 PM

Agreed! So many layers. I love how this movie is both incredibly blunt and extremely subtle at the same time. (Bong said in another interview, "The metaphors are there, but on the other had, you can't get your skull crushed in by a metaphor.")

November 5, 2019 at 3:14 PM

*hand, yikes

November 5, 2019 at 1:29 PM

Parasite’s Wild Ending, Broken Down Having trouble processing the big Parasite climax? Good. That’s just what Bong Joon-ho intended.

https://www.gq.com/story/bong-joon-ho-breaks-down-parasites-wild-ending

7 strawberry

November 5, 2019 at 12:09 pm.

Thanks for the review! My local theater just started showing this movie this month. I want to go watch it as soon as I get some free time!

8 tsutsuloo

November 5, 2019 at 12:35 pm.

Thanks for your review, @laica . I just saw this film Sunday morning at the cinema with my family and can't stop thinking about it. After assiduously avoiding all press and video, I'm now gobbling up reviews, thought pieces, and Eng-subbed cast interviews.

None of the American reviewers I've read—present company excepted—mention watching Korean dramas. Having watched SKY Castle , I had a better understanding of how disadvantaged the the two Kim siblings were compared to their wealthier peers. Did anyone else catch that the forged college certificate was from Yonsei University?!

Gi Jung and Gi Woo are clearly bright kids—but it's not enough to get into Korean university. At some point, the kids went to a good school with the likes of the Park's former tutor, Min Hyuk. But I can imagine the family slipping downward economically as the parents cycled through dead-end jobs.

I'm grateful I managed to catch this before it left my small city. I held off watching a bootleg online and loved sharing this experience with audience that cackled, gasped, and applauded alongside me.

November 5, 2019 at 1:50 PM

I was going to mention this too. Its been a hoot reading American reviews of the film because its soooo apparent that the reviewers have (mostly) never watched K-dramas. If they watched 'The Handmaiden' from 2016 they should have picked up common theme of the great social & economic divide, the plucky resourceful poor striving to play the rich for fools

November 5, 2019 at 5:12 PM

True but most of the top film critics in the US are fans of Bong Joon-ho since MEMORIES of MURDER and Park Chan-wook since OLD BOY. They may not be as familiar with the Korean cultures but they are familiar with their kind of films.

November 5, 2019 at 2:35 PM

I tend not to read anyone else's review until I've finished my own to avoid getting unintentionally influenced, so I'm just now started to read interviews and haven't yet gotten to other reviews. But I'm not surprised to hear that some American critics missed a lot of these nuances and cultural context. (I do feel, however, that one of the great things about the movie is that there are some things that everyone will get about it, and some that only Korean speaking/culturally conversant audiences will get - it works on many levels, but it WORKS.)

November 5, 2019 at 2:55 PM

So true. When it comes to Korean films I’d read the local reviews first over foreign critics. Some said that it was better than MEMORIES of MURDER but I love them both equally. PARASITE scores a 99% on RT from 265 out of 267 US film critics . It’s well loved worldwide.

November 5, 2019 at 12:40 PM

I was very impressed by Jo Yeo-Yung. she brought a madness to being privileged.

10 egads aka Dame Maggie

November 5, 2019 at 1:42 pm.

I'm particularly glad that I made the effort to see this film in the theater just this morning (so, thanks @laica for writing this review and getting it posted while everything is still quite fresh in my mind) because visually there are some scenes that are particularly impactful up there on that large screen. Bong Joon Ho's use of space and light here is sometimes breathtaking even when what it happening is anything but beautiful.

I'm glad I only knew, in the very broadest sense, what this film was about, so watching the destruction unfold was both darkly humorous and terrifying. I want to go on and on, but also don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it yet.

November 5, 2019 at 2:08 PM

I don't think I have ever seen a house play such an important character in a film in a long time.

Everything about that house just fit the Parks to a frightening tee.

November 5, 2019 at 2:30 PM

Perhaps this isn't the place to say that I love that house, and would like to live in it.

November 5, 2019 at 2:33 PM

Would it be your home or just a piece of your pride to show off.

November 6, 2019 at 12:52 PM

I’d seal off the basement, just to be sure.

November 6, 2019 at 3:59 PM

You are obviously unaware of my reputation....

November 6, 2019 at 1:29 PM

The heating bill would be phenomenal.

November 6, 2019 at 3:58 PM

Not necessarily. Concrete can be a good insulator, and if all that glass is triple paned, it should be okay, especially if it's facing the right way to catch the bulk of the daylight. Plus, in my house, the motto is to add another layer of clothing.

11 loveblossom🌸

November 5, 2019 at 2:00 pm.

Reading the positive reviews make me want to watch this movie. I didn’t think it would be in my local theaters, but it is! I’m too chicken to watch it on a big theater screen though.

November 5, 2019 at 2:17 PM

It is a lot to process. I remember after seeing it feeling some kind of way and then feeling no way at all. But I think you will enjoy it.

November 5, 2019 at 2:32 PM

Don't miss the theatre experience! This movie should really be seen on the big screen. I'm not usually a fan of horror, and to compare a similar movie, Park Chan-wook's recent film Burning was a bit too brutal for me, but I Parasite is breathtaking and thrilling, and sometimes horrifying, but it never goes further than it needs to. And I'd rewatch it, whereas Memories of Murder was so uncomfortable to watch that, brilliant though it is, I don't think I want to see it again.

November 5, 2019 at 2:40 PM

I agree. While there is violence, nothing is gratuitous or overly graphic. However, seeing some scenes up on that large screen with the sound surrounding you, really is an experience that is worth the effort.

It is a beautiful film to look at, even is places it should not be and I feel like crap seeing beauty in someone else's plight.

November 5, 2019 at 6:29 PM

"Burning" was a Lee Chang-dong film.

"The Host" is my most viewed film from Bong.

November 5, 2019 at 6:50 PM

Ooh, so sorry, yes! I mixed them up.

loveblossom🌸

November 5, 2019 at 4:34 pm.

@larelle79 @laica @egads Thank you all for your input!

12 Carolina

Great review. I also enjoyed Bong Joon-ho's other films. I loved the cinematography, the raining scenes were amazing, so much detail to keep an eye on.

November 6, 2019 at 12:55 PM

The flooding ! 💩😵

13 soulsearch12

November 5, 2019 at 2:50 pm.

All the praise here has been said so I will say is that the film is a masterpiece. The swift of genre tones, cinematography, direction, acting, and etc. was magnificently presented here. What is has to say about class, how we treat others, what is our role in society, and many more are presented here that is specifically Korean but is all the more universal for it.

A rousing achievement, and surely one of the year's or imo decade's best films of the 2010's. Definitely going to win South Korea it's much deserved and awaited Oscar for Best International Film, and a slew of other nominations as well. I hope that this means that the younger cast (Park So-Dam/Choi Woo-shik) career's gets a huge boost from this!!

Side note- Bong's next film is going to a Korean language film as well but a Horror-Action one :O I can not wait for the Korean cast he conjures up, he and Park Chan-Wook choose great Korean actors for their films (Imo they act the most natural/strongest).

November 5, 2019 at 3:25 PM

Choi Woo Shik has already been cast opposite Suzy in Kim Tae Yong's next film. He's the director of the critically acclaimed "Late Autumn" starring Hyun Bin and Tang Wei (his now wife). Doubt Choi would have been cast in this film without being in Parasite first.

November 5, 2019 at 3:53 PM

Yep! I think that one is going to be shooting soon (Possibly next Jan?). Suzy and him should be an interesting combo. One thing is that he said he wants to make the transition to Hollywood, so I am also curious about that as well. Helps that he speaks English!

November 5, 2019 at 7:00 PM

Transitioning to Hollywood might be hard for him. There aren't that many roles for Asian-Americans. Even Lee Byung Hun, who is much more famous than Choi, said that he was used to being #1 on the callsheet in Korea, but when he was in the G.I. Joe movie, his role was so much smaller than what he was used to and he spent most of the day waiting around in his dressing room for his scenes.

November 5, 2019 at 7:51 PM

Agreed. Hollywood's racist and it's hard enough for Asian Americans to get cast in roles. I'm watching Korean American Stephen Yeun's career with interest and I hope his bi-cultural upbringing brings him more international roles.

November 5, 2019 at 9:54 PM

Yeah, even Choi himself was like he would like to work in Hollywood someday. However, he also said that he hopes H-wood casts more Asian talents but its holding out for bated breath tbh.

As for Lee Byung Hun, he did get the short end of the stick. I feel like he does both work in SK/Hollywood, and that can be hard balancing those out. I just wish more Asian talents could find more substantial work, since the world is going global.

MikeyD signed up

November 5, 2019 at 10:43 pm.

Its ironic that he wants to make the transition TO Hollywood while most Dramabeans posters have made the transition FROM Hollywood to K-dramas.

November 5, 2019 at 4:29 PM

I NEED to watch this!! I'm sure it'll be added in my favorite korean films list among with Train to Busan, The Taxi driver and Midnight Runners.

November 5, 2019 at 5:34 PM

Some bits were really good - like the scenes of the flood or the recurring theme with the smell of poorness. The violence felt a bit gratuitous, but i could appreciate the poetry of the little man struggling for survival and accidentally bursting the perfect bubble of the privileged in the process, the fake savagery of the Indian playacting hiding the real savagery beneath... The movie tried to make a lot of deep statements about the have and have nots, desperation and entitlement. Mostly successfully, although to me it felt like trying too hard at times. I referred to it as pretentious before and I stand by that assessment. More than anything, the movie felt like a piece intended for Cannes critics acclaim. Additionally, in the attempt at universalness the movie lost most of its Korean-ness which explains the movie's broad appeal but is still a big negative in my books. Overall... it did some things very well but i did not love it at much as most people did.

November 5, 2019 at 6:28 PM

Thank you for sharing. It's good to have different views on this film.

November 5, 2019 at 7:55 PM

I haven't read what Koreans critics and fans have had to say about the film. Do Korean audiences feel its Korean-ness was sacrificed for broader appeal?

November 5, 2019 at 9:58 PM

Hmm, I read several Korean people's takes on it and some of the references (the cake business, Kakao talk, random, etc.) were what they caught then international ones. Plus the film did extremely well in SK, one of the top 2 films of the year (South Korean film/not a H-wood one), so the audience really responded well to it.

Plus a lot of the reviews I read is that because it was specifically Korean (scholar rock/etc), it was made the more universal in a way because even if its in a diff. country/culture, classism/social issues are universal which is what the film portrayed well.

oppafangirl

November 7, 2019 at 12:48 pm.

Can you link me to the reviews which are Korean and talk about that rock! I want to know all the Korean specific details of this film?

November 9, 2019 at 9:08 PM

https://www.polygon.com/2019/10/14/20906430/parasite-bong-joon-ho-interview-rock-peach-spoilers

Where did the idea come from to use the scholar’s rock? There were a bunch of them around my grandfather’s apartment but I never really got what they were.

My dad used to collect them, too. He quit doing it because they were so heavy. We’d go to mountains looking for these scholar’s rocks, basically just picking up rocks. It’s a weird thing. I’m 50, and there’s no one in my generation — my colleagues, my friends — who collects these things anymore. Rocks? Why?

"I can’t let anyone unfamiliar with scholar’s rocks pass it over, I have to create that odd mood. For actors and directors, I think that’s a big feat. [Laughs] Even though I’m the one who said it, I know it sounds weird. But, for foreigners seeing this stuff, thinking, “That’s weird, why is that in there? Does that have to be there? Is it a symbol?” Well, the actor outright says it’s a symbol, so it’s even weirder. “So maybe it’s not a symbol?”

It's something that used to be given as a gift, like a high honor bestowed to someone back in the day. But I remember reading that not many people do that anymore, because the scholar rock is quite heavy.

November 10, 2019 at 12:23 PM

@soulsearch12 —Thank you for sharing that interview! I've also added Wages of Fear to my movie list since it had affected him so much as a child.

November 7, 2019 at 9:54 AM

The film is no more 'international' than the usual K-dramas set in Seoul. The references to American culture in the film seemed to have been inserted to paint the rich family as rather effete and annoying.

November 6, 2019 at 1:44 PM

I really enjoyed the first half of the film, really smooth. The former housekeeper portion wasn’t nearly as slick. The acting was excellent .

16 zanearaki

November 5, 2019 at 5:48 pm.

One thing I love in this movie is how fast-paced it is without sacrificing the momentum that showcase the turning point of the characters. Post-watch me felt uneasy not because of the murders, but rather due to the drastic change of the poor characters. The way they're portrayed makes me feel as if they know what they're gonna do given the opportunity, and they're like rats/cockroach waiting in the dark for the appearance food and just the smell of it is enough to begin their move. They're smart and cunning, and in a way, as an audience I was fooled with their transformation- from an ordinary family struggling with poverty to a team of professional conmen knowing the ins and outs of their target and the environment. The duality of the poor is something I thought was done brilliantly in the movie. They're both the refugee and the colonist. They're trying to take the opportunities in the new place, at the same time manipulating the rich and eyeing for the chance to swap their lives with the rich's.

November 5, 2019 at 8:01 PM

The Parks also have that duality—as benefactors and parasites who need others do manage their basic daily functions. The only things the Parks do for themselves is Mr. Park's job, eating and sex (was that clockwise or counterclockwise?).

MapleSilver

November 5, 2019 at 8:10 pm.

What did you all think of that sofa scene? Apparently it caught many in the Korean audience off guard as the movie was only rated 15 in Korea. It's rated R here in the States. It was censored out completely in some Asian countries.

November 5, 2019 at 8:37 PM

I'm traumatized. I had no idea that they would include a scene that vulgar, because there's no indication from the movie's tone that it would go there (or maybe I'm just ignorant). I didn't watch the whole scene, but I do have a glimpse of what was about to happen. That, contrasted with the poor struggling to hide and happen to be in the same room, was quite hard to stomach. I couldn't imagine how they must've felt. To what degree should they stoop even lower?

November 5, 2019 at 8:38 PM

And I'm also curious. What do you think of the scene?

November 5, 2019 at 11:25 PM

It was hard to stomach, not only for the reason you stated, but also the extent of the "parasitic invasion." When your most uninhibited thoughts are revealed in your most intimate moment, and to be violated in such a way... {shudder} It's hard for me to be more sympathetic toward one family over the other. They both kinda deserve each other.

November 9, 2019 at 9:36 AM

For me, the frottage sex scene was enlightening and horrific. Enlightening because even in their most intimate moments, the Parks co-opt a dirt-spoon fantasy. But it was horrific to overhear the Parks' sh**ty comments and witness their intimacy from just one step away. Weren't we all hiding under the coffee table with the Kims?

As other Beanies have noted, there's a sharp contrast between KoreanTV/Cable treatment of sexuality vs film. I'm sex positive (and married 24 yrs) but Korean movies often make me utter, "Yech! This is a bit much." (The 2018 film High Society is a recent example. It involved two side characters and was ostensibly performed in the process of making a specific type of canvas. But it was Just Too Much.)

Anyway, back to Parasite . On the positive side, I support consensual role play and it was good to see Yung Gyo explicitly tell her husband what she needed. I was more surprised to see class integrated into their role play. Initially I wasn't sure if the reference to drugs was performative or not. She was a bit strung out that first day Kim Gi Woo met her for his interview but I now I chalk it up to fatigue from maternal worrying. Although pampered Choi Yung Gyo doesn't cook, clean or work outside of the house, she seems to carry nearly the full load of domestic mental labor for the Park family.

November 5, 2019 at 9:00 PM

Is the 15 rating the same as PG-13 in America? I think the point of the sofa scene was to show how the Parks insulted the poor (their former driver) for having sex in a car/doing drugs but used it in their role-playing. So they kind of got a thrill from pretending to be poor, which speaks to their massive class privilege.

But I wasn't bothered by the scene at all. It wasn't as explicit as the one in last year's Burning.

November 6, 2019 at 1:26 PM

I was surprised at that scene. They could have conveyed the foreplay without actually showing it. I was confused by Mrs. Park’s pleas for drugs, was that some sort of role play? If so, I was lost on that point.

November 6, 2019 at 11:31 PM

While there was no nudity, there was some explicit touching. The director did say in an interview that "the camera has crossed the line" by showing everything. I am not sure how else to interpret it other than to drive home the point of "crossing the line." As for Mrs. Park's pleas for drugs, I guess you were right. Imagining her in a cheap underwear and taking drugs became their fetish.

November 7, 2019 at 4:19 PM

The only thing surprising about it was that it didn't follow the standard 'love scene' choreography that we've seen repeated in a hundred thousand other films and TV shows. But I've learned to expect the unexpected from Korean directors.

November 5, 2019 at 8:23 PM

I chuckled a bit on "Mr. Park's job, eating and sex" because truly, that was what's seen of them and how juxtaposed it is with the poor's unending machination as they do the three essential things. x)

17 michykdrama

November 5, 2019 at 7:36 pm.

Thank you @laica for the write up! I missed many of the nuances in the film when I saw it (I am so bad at these things!) but it was still very thought provoking and enjoyable at the same time. So I really appreciated your review and for pointing them out.

I would say it might be better to watch it with an open mind and not worry about the references and then read the reviews soon after so you can savour the nuances and brilliance in the mind or during a re watch. And defintiely in a cinema if you can.

I caught it long ago when it just came out and I’m so happy you all did a review here. I blogged about my thoughts but certainly it’s a pale poor one compared to Laica’s one here!

Will you all be doing one for Kim Ji Young, Born in 1982? I’d LOVE for you all to do that and it would be a great movie for discussion too!

I have been keeping tabs on KIM JI YOUNG, BORN in 1982 and it's topping the box-office right now. http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/boxOffice_Daily.jsp?mode=BOXOFFICE_DAILY

michykdrama

November 6, 2019 at 1:58 am.

Yes! It hit 2 million viewers very fast and Im so darn pleased.

November 7, 2019 at 1:09 PM

I am actually really looking forward to watching it, i also ordered the book ( just that it's English translation comes out next year, too long of wait)

November 5, 2019 at 8:46 PM

Thanks! I've been following the success of (and the backlash against) both the book and movie, and I definitely plan to write about it once I have a chance to see it. I don't know if it's going to be theatrically released in the US though, especially outside NY/LA etc.

November 6, 2019 at 1:57 AM

Fabulous! That’s great news. Looking forward to it. I’m hoping to catch it when it’s released in SG. 14th Nov is The Date!

18 Fly Colours

November 14, 2019 at 6:18 am.

Just watched the film, and needed to come here to read the review and the Beanies' comments! It is a brilliant, funny, unsettling and ultimately depressing, but for good reason. Loved it!

November 23, 2019 at 12:29 PM

What I took away from this storyline? At the end of the day, the rich and elite are the true parasites. Hoarding and flaunting resourcing whiling turning the other cheek at the plight of the poor and the masses. All while shamelessly and selfishly stripping those that support their lifestyle of their pursuit of happiness and dignity.

20 Bob Kretshmer

October 31, 2020 at 3:39 am.

I am 81 years old and in 1960-1961, I was stationed near Seoul with the Army engineers. I personally believe the U.S. should not get involved in foreign civil wars. However, South Koreans in general. seem to have a better quality of life than North Koreans. I wonder if Parasite could have been made in the North. It's your country. make your choice. Unite with the North and experience what they have to offer!

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‘Parasite’ Review: The Lower Depths Rise With a Vengeance

In Bong Joon Ho’s new film, a destitute family occupies a wealthy household in an elaborate scheme that goes comically — then horribly — wrong.

• Share full article

‘Parasite' | Anatomy of a Scene

The director bong joon ho narrates a sequence from his film..

“Hello, this is Bong Joon Ho, director of ‘Parasite.’ This is the story about infiltration. One family infiltrates to other family. This is in the middle of that process. —that kind of moment.” “Simply speaking, it’s just something like ‘Mission: Impossible,’ the TV series when I was a little kid. I was a huge fan. And this some kind of nerdy family version of ‘Mission: Impossible.’” “In this moment for the young son, he is kind of manipulator. He controls everything. And he has a plan. When they rehearse, it looks like a kind of filmmaking. It is like the son is director, the father is the actor.” “I intentionally shoot those shots very quickly and some very spontaneous reaction and sudden, small, improvised. And something happened very naturally. Rolling the camera, that kind of momentary feeling is very important.”

By Manohla Dargis

Midway through the brilliant and deeply unsettling “Parasite,” a destitute man voices empathy for a family that has shown him none. “They’re rich but still nice,” he says, aglow with good will. His wife has her doubts. “They’re nice because they’re rich,” she counters. With their two adult children, they have insinuated themselves into the lives of their pampered counterparts. It’s all going so very well until their worlds spectacularly collide, erupting with annihilating force. Comedy turns to tragedy and smiles twist into grimaces as the real world splatters across the manicured lawn.

The story takes place in South Korea but could easily unfold in Los Angeles or London. The director Bong Joon Ho ( “Okja” ) creates specific spaces and faces — outer seamlessly meets inner here — that are in service to universal ideas about human dignity, class, life itself. With its open plan and geometric shapes, the modernist home that becomes the movie’s stage (and its house of horrors) looks as familiar as the cover of a shelter magazine. It’s the kind of clean, bright space that once expressed faith and optimism about the world but now whispers big-ticket taste and privilege.

“Space and light and order,” Le Corbusier said, are as necessary as “bread or a place to sleep.” That’s a good way of telegraphing the larger catastrophe represented by the cramped, gloomy and altogether disordered basement apartment where Kim Ki-taek (the great Song Kang Ho) benignly reigns. A sedentary lump (he looks as if he’s taken root), Ki-taek doesn’t have a lot obviously going for him. But he has a home and the affection of his wife and children, and together they squeeze out a meager living assembling pizza boxes for a delivery company. They’re lousy at it, but that scarcely matters as much as the petty humiliations that come with even the humblest job.

The Kims’ fortunes change after the son, Ki-woo (Choi Woo Shik), lands a lucrative job as an English-language tutor for the teenage daughter, Da-hye (Jung Ziso), of the wealthy Park family. The moment that he walks up the quiet, eerily depopulated street looking for the Park house it’s obvious we’re not idling in the lower depths anymore. Ki-woo crosses the threshold into another world, one of cultivated sensitivities and warmly polished surfaces that are at once signifiers of bourgeois success and blunt reproaches to his own family’s deprivation. For him, the house looks like a dream, one that his younger sister and parents soon join by taking other jobs in the Park home.

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Parasite Movie Analysis, Synopsis and Ending Explained (Video Essay)

P arasite director Bong Joon-ho’s insightful and engaging comedy/thriller became one of the most talked-about films of the year and set a new precedent for the mark a South Korean movie can leave on United States’ movie-going audiences. The film is packed with social commentary, thrilling moments, and plenty of meaty writing worthy of a full ‘ Parasite movie analysis’.

Watch: Parasite Explained in 15 Story Beats

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Parasite Movie Synopsis - what is Parasite about

Parasite synopsis: pulling off the con.

What is Parasite about? The first half of Parasite plays out largely as a comedy-drama with a compelling narrative and thought-provoking themes. We’ll be taking a look at all of the ingredients to made Parasite one of the best films of 2019 and one of the best South Korean films ever made , but first, let’s get started with a Parasite synopsis.

The Kim family lives in a semi-basement and struggles to keep food on the table. They take on odd jobs for cash like folding pizza boxes, and they rely on unprotected wi-fi networks and street-cleaning pesticides to keep their home insect-free.

Parasite movie synopsis  •  street-cleaning pesticides

Ki-woo, the son, is gifted a scholar’s stone or suseok by a friend and given a recommendation for a tutoring job with a wealthy family. Ki-woo and his sister Ki-jung forge credentials for the job, and thus begins the long-con that sees each member of the Kim family infiltrating the upper-class Park family one-by-one. There are plenty of examples of subtle foreshadowing all throughout this opening act that circle back around by the end of the film.

Parasite meaning conveyed in screenplay excerpt

If you are interested in reading through the rest of the script, you can find it below. And, if you would like a deep-dive into the inner workings of the screenplay, be sure to read our Parasite script teardown.

Full Script PDF Download

Ki-jung begins working for the parks under the guise of an art-therapy teacher. Ki-taek, the father, begins working as the Park family chauffeur after the Kims have removed their previous chauffeur from his position, and similarly Chung-sook, the mother, replaces Moon-gwang, the housekeeper who has served the home longer than the Park’s have even lived there. Chung-sook is framed as deceiving the family by hiding a dangerous illness. The real deception is carried out by the Kims, and it works flawlessly.

Ki-taek with the scholar’s stone

The contrast in appearance between the Kims’ semi-basement home and the lavish home of the Park family is impossible to miss. The brilliant set dressing of Parasite combined with the striking architectural-design choices perfectly reinforce the themes of the film, but more on the themes after we finish our Parasite summary.

For some Parasite movie analysis straight from the auteur himself, check out this scene breakdown from Bong Joon-ho . Alongside actor Choi Woo-sik, he explains the significance of production design elements from the beginning of the film, such as the cultural context of scholar’s stones in South Korea and the idea of distant hope conveyed by the semi-basement window.

What is Parasite about? Parasite analysis straight from the director

Once the entire Kim family is employed in the Park household, the lower-class con-artists begin to assume more and more of this fabricated identity of wealth. They take the affluent home as their own while the Parks are away… and that’s when Moon-gwang shows back up and everything changes. Let’s shift gears from a Parasite summary to a Parasite movie analysis.

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What is Parasite About?

Parasite analysis: navigating the shift.

At its exact mid-point, Parasite undergoes a massive tonal shift. In our Parasite movie analysis video, this mid-point scene was the focus.

Be sure to watch our video essay on the scene for more detail and deeper Parasite analysis.

Parasite Genre Shift  •  Subscribe on YouTube

A tonal shift this extreme could easily take viewers out of the film or feel like a jumping-the-shark moment, but in the hands of Bong Joon-ho, this shift is portrayed in a way that not only feels effortless but greatly enhances each half of the film that preceded and follows it.

What is Parasite about? This excerpt reveals the script’s major plot twist

Moon-Gwang’s return to the house and eventual reveal of the secret basement keeps us on the edges of our seats as viewers and seamlessly blends from the drama/comedy centered first half into the thriller/tragedy centered latter half. Bong Joon-ho displays a mastery over genres and tones with this mid-point shift.

Did You Know?

Lee Jeong-eun, who plays Moon-Gwang the housekeeper, also provided the vocalization for Okja the super pig in Bong Joon-ho’s previous film.

Parasite synopsis

Parasite ending: orchestrating chaos.

Following the film’s major twist, Parasite continues in a far darker tone until it’s ending. In our Parasite movie analysis, we found that although the tone and style change, the themes at play remain consistent from the first half to the second half, and continue to be developed further as the film progresses.

Parasite’s final scene, in case you want a refresher on the chaos

For additional insights into director Bong Joon-ho’s creative process, listen to him discuss his decisions and directorial style with the other 2019 DGA nominees for best director including Martin Scorsese , Quentin Tarantino , Taika Waititi , and Sam Mendes :

Parasite summary and meaning discussed by filmmakers

Power shifts from Moon-gwang and her incognito husband to the Kim family as both lower-class families fight for leverage over each other. Both parties have dark secrets, and both threaten to expose the other to the Park family, who remain above all the drama, currently unaware. The film’s social commentary on class is at its strongest in this depiction of the lower classes fighting against each other rather than against the 1% who truly hold more accountability.

Outside of the sub-basement, violence erupts, and the prophetic scholar’s stone becomes an instrument of violence. Blood is shed and deaths are cast at the birthday party of the Park family’s youngest child.

All three families at play are damaged by this explosive act of violence. The Kim family is destroyed; Ki-jung is killed, Ki-woo is left brain-damaged, and Ki-taek is forced into hiding after he snaps and acts out a classism-driven murder in the chaos of the birthday party. The metaphorical themes are presented in as literal a way as possible with the act of this stabbing.

Ki-woo questions if his class prevents him from fitting in

Parasite’s ending features a sequence of Ki-woo’s plan to work hard, buy the house under which his own father now hides, and reunite the family… but this plan is nothing but a fantasy. The real Parasite movie ending is more bleak and, unfortunately, more realistic.

To explain Parasite’ s ending, we turn to the director’s own words: “You know and I know - we all know that this kid isn't going to be able to buy that house. I just felt that frankness was right for the film, even though it's sad." The emotionally-affecting resonance of the ending is the perfect cap to the wonderfully layered social commentary spread throughout the film.

But, before we dig deeper into the social commentary, let’s take a look at how the film managed to break through to an unmatched audience size.

• What is a motif in film? →
• The best movies of 2019, ranked →
• How to set dress like Bong Joon-ho →

Parasite 2019 Film

The spread of parasite.

Parasite has proven to be a groundbreaking achievement for South Korean movies. For years the country has been producing some of the finest films and directors in the world of cinema, but Parasite has crossed new milestones in terms of global impact.

Parasite director Bong Joon-ho became the first South Korean filmmaker to win best director at the academy awards. Has also tied the record with Walt Disney for most Oscars awarded to an individual at a single ceremony. This is especially impressive given how ethnocentric the Academy Awards often unfold, prioritizing English-language films over foreign-language films much of the time.

Parasite 2019 cleans up at the Academy Awards

Parasite was not just the first South Korean film to win the foreign language prize at the Oscars but also the first foreign language film from any country to win the overall best picture prize. Equally impressive was Parasite becoming the first South Korean movie to win the Palme d’Or, which is the top prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Parasite makes history by winning the Palme d’Or

Parasite was the first film since Marty in 1955 to win the top prize of both The Oscars and the Cannes Film Festival. These two powerhouse awards ceremonies rarely overlap and are comprised of entirely different audiences and judges and with entirely different viewing criteria and preferences. It speaks wonders to Parasite’s accessibility that it was received so well with such widely varying viewers.

The 2012 Academy Awards:

The Artist , a French and Belgian production, won best picture at the 2012 Academy Awards but was ineligible for the best foreign language film category as it is a silent film.

It wasn’t just awards records that Parasite broke in 2019. Parasite broke a number of financial records as well, including the highest foreign film opening weekend of all time for the UK box office, and a number of records with the Indie Box Office.

The record-setting trend continued for the Parasite film. After being added Hulu’s catalogue for exclusive streaming, it became the platform’s most streamed film in both the independent and foreign film categories, reaching even more audience members and wowing them with its immaculate presentation and resonant themes.

The cultural swell around Parasite is much deserved and hopefully leads more audience members to check out Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s previous films and more South Korean cinema in general.

Parasite 2019 Meaning

Perfecting social commentary.

“What is the movie Parasite about?” has many answers. One clear way to explain the movie is: “ Parasite is about class.” Class is the primary target of social commentary within Parasite.

And every single element of the film from the scholar’s stone, to the architecture of the homes, to the very names of the families all contribute to this central theme. It’s no accident that the lower-class protagonists happen to have the single most common surname in South Korea.

Parasite 2019: The Kim family

It is one of the most effective satires in recent memory. For a quick breakdown on satire, including a segment on Parasite , here's an explainer that will answer all your questions about how satire works.

3 Types of Satire Explained  •   Subscribe on YouTube

Parasite has a lot worthy of analysis and it has a lot to say. One of the main reasons why Parasite was such a massive success around the whole world in 2019 is because of its themes and messages of classism and the wealth divide, which are truly universal. These themes cross all cultural-barriers and can speak to the 99% anywhere in the world.

The topic of class is one that Bong Joon-ho has a clear fascination with. He’s skewered classicism in all of his films to some degree. Prior to Parasite in 2019, his most focused social commentary on class was found in his 2013 film Snowpiercer which saw the lower class positioned at the back of a train in squalid conditions while the wealthy lived large at the head of the train.

This same subject of class is less overt in Parasite but far more grounded and effectively subtle to the point of never overshadowing the story being told for the sake of its themes.

Tilda Swinton monologues about class in Snowpiercer  •  2013

For a full deep-dive analysis into how the themes of Parasite were previously tackled in Bong Joon-ho’s other films, check out this video essay on the subject:

Parasite 2019 movie analysis

The Kim family may be below the Parks in status, but even they can look down on Moon-gwang and her husband. This secret basement reveals an even lower level of status below what we had thought was the floor with the Kim family.

Elevation clearly equates to status; the park’s have a multi-level home at the top of the hill while the Kim’s live below street level in a semi-basement, and the surprise 3rd party lives deep underground in a sub-basement. This vertical comment on status is illustrated cleanly in this alternate poster for the film, without spoiling the sub-basement reveal.

The flooding sequence, as depicted on the poster, also illustrates how the wealthy are unaffected by many of the debilitating circumstances that affect the lower classes as they are, quite literally, above the trouble.

Parasite movie analysis in poster form

Parasite represents the most focused and refined approach to class as a subject that Bong Joon-ho has achieved, and that’s certainly saying something given his impressive body of work.

How to set-dress like Bong Joon-ho

For more Parasite movie analysis, check out our article on how Bong Joon-ho creates meaning through set dressing. The article breaks down how to identify and breakdown set elements in a screenplay. Follow along with the Parasite script as StudioBinder is used to recreate what the actual script breakdown may have looked like.

Up Next: Set dressing in Parasite →

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Common Sense Media Review

Brilliant Korean social satire has dark comedy, violence.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Parasite is a brilliant social satire from acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho ( Snowpiercer , The Host ). It's alternately funny, shocking, and thoughtful, but it's also quite mature. Expect a few scenes of extremely strong violence, blood, and gore, with…

Why Age 16+?

Brief scenes of intense gore. Stabbing, skewering. Characters fight and hit each

Multiple uses of "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "bitch," "piss," "screwed," "scumbag

A married couple engages in sexual activity on a couch; he touches her breast, a

An entire family drinks heavily in one scene, whiskey and other kinds of liquor.

Mention of WhatsApp.

Any Positive Content?

Messages have complex layers, but movie asks pointed questions about the rich an

While clever and often likable, most characters here are satirical in nature. Th

Violence & Scariness

Brief scenes of intense gore. Stabbing, skewering. Characters fight and hit each other with blunt objects. Lots of blood. A fall down concrete stairs. A character gets a concussion; another is briefly trapped in a noose. Characters die. A character suddenly swipes all the food and drink from a table, smashing it on the floor. A man grabs his wife by her shirt in pretend anger.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Multiple uses of "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "bitch," "piss," "screwed," "scumbag," and "oh God," all translated in the English subtitles.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A married couple engages in sexual activity on a couch; he touches her breast, and she touches his crotch, moaning and saying sex-related things. A young man kisses a teen girl. A young woman removes her underwear in the back of a car. A man grabs his wife's buttock. Strong sex talk.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

An entire family drinks heavily in one scene, whiskey and other kinds of liquor. Some of them become slurring drunk. Young character smokes cigarettes. A staggeringly drunk character urinates in an alleyway. Mentions of hard drugs (meth, cocaine).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Positive messages.

Messages have complex layers, but movie asks pointed questions about the rich and their tendency to insulate themselves from others' problems and the yearning of the poor to become just like the rich. The poor must scheme, ask for help to get by, but as soon as anyone gets the upper hand, they attempt to crush the poor and stop them from advancing. Why are we like this? Is it possible to change, become more aware of suffering and needs of fellow humans?

Positive Role Models

While clever and often likable, most characters here are satirical in nature. They are capable of unsavory deeds, though there are consequences.

Parents need to know that Parasite is a brilliant social satire from acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho ( Snowpiercer , The Host ). It's alternately funny, shocking, and thoughtful, but it's also quite mature. Expect a few scenes of extremely strong violence, blood, and gore, with stabbing, fighting, hitting with blunt objects, and death. One character gets trapped in a noose, and another is knocked down concrete stairs. English subtitles include multiple uses of "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "bitch," and more. A married couple gets frisky on a couch; he rubs her breast, and she grabs his crotch. There's also kissing, plus other sexual situations and sex-related talk. One scene shows an entire family drinking heavily and getting drunk; a young woman smokes cigarettes, and a staggeringly drunk man urinates in an alleyway. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (34)
• Kids say (83)

Based on 34 parent reviews

Dark comedy with violent ending for some characters.

What's the story.

In PARASITE, the Kim family -- father Ki-taek ( Song Kang-ho ), mother Chung-sook (Hyae Jin Chang), daughter Ki-jung (Park So-dam), and son Ki-woo (Choi Woo-sik) -- are all unemployed, folding pizza boxes in their dumpy, basement-level apartment to earn a little cash. Through a friend, Ki-woo gets the chance to tutor Park Da-hye (Jung Ziso), the daughter of a wealthy family, even though he's not a student. Turning on the charm, Ki-woo gets the job. Then, he and Ki-jung scheme to score a position for her, too, as an art therapist for the family's precocious youngest son. More plotting results in the firing of the family's driver and maid, providing jobs for Chung-sook and Ki-taek. Things seem to be looking up at last for the Kims -- until a bizarre secret turns everything totally sideways.

Is It Any Good?

South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho already has an impeccable track record, but he's stepped up his game with this brilliant, powerfully revealing social satire. Certainly Parasite might feel uneven to some audiences because of its radical shifts in tone -- from clever comedy to violent, dark tragedy -- but it's more likely that Bong has executed everything as planned. Each insignificant detail, from the young boy Da-song's love of Native Americans to a peach allergy to the Kim family's sad little half-basement apartment, has been planted for some specific, exacting reason.

Cleanly and slickly constructed, Parasite takes perverse pleasure in scamming the rich during its leisurely, funny first half, and that pleasure is contagious. When the second half comes, it's not only a narrative shock, but it also forces viewers to ask hard questions about why the first half was so enjoyable. In earlier films like The Host , Snowpiercer , and Okja , Bong slyly explored the impact that humans have had on our environment. In Parasite , he looks at an even bigger picture. He wonders why humans tend to look away from, or insulate themselves from, others' troubles and suffering. In this movie, reaching the high ground is certainly desirable, but those occupying the low ground aren't going anywhere.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Parasite 's violence . Is it shocking, or thrilling? How did it make you feel? How did the filmmakers achieve this effect? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

What does the movie have to say about class differences? How do the rich and poor view each other? How do they relate to one another?

How is sex depicted? What values are imparted?

How is drinking depicted? Is it glamorized? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?

Are any of the characters admirable? Can non-admirable characters still be interesting?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 11, 2019
• On DVD or streaming : January 14, 2020
• Cast : Kang-ho Song , Park So-dam , Choi Woo-sik
• Director : Joon-ho Bong
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Asian actors
• Studio : Neon
• Genre : Comedy
• Run time : 132 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language, some violence and sexual content
• Awards : Academy Award , BAFTA - BAFTA Winner , Golden Globe - Golden Globe Award Winner
• Last updated : June 20, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

Sorry to Bother You

Phantom Thread

Cult classics, offbeat animated movies.

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Parasite Reviews

It's a wonderfully sneaky film that, before you know it, will have worked its way right under your skin.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 30, 2024

Fundamentally, Parasite aims to make us reflect on today's society, where the gap between the rich, the middle class and the poor is increasing.The spatial construction that the film proposes is a metaphor for the cruel social pyramid system.

Full Review | Original Score: 9.5 | Aug 15, 2024

Parasite is both darkly hilarious and delightfully shocking, setting a new sky-high standard for black comedy – the style of Bong Joon-ho.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 30, 2024

“Parasite” does not put a foot wrong in either of its thematic or narrative capabilities. Via suspenseful drama, dark comedy, and an ingenious script and set design, the film offers commentary worthy of Ken Loach.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 14, 2024

It’s a tricky balancing act, much like Bong’s abrupt shifts in tone, as Parasite is arguably the best film of the year at genre manipulation...

Full Review | Jul 9, 2024

Parasite is the movie we will look back on as the movie of 2019. It crosses over to every culture because it’s simply about human beings struggling to survive in an unfair system.

Full Review | Apr 4, 2024

It is sadistic, angry and dark and has a lot to say about the system. This is the world we live in.

Full Review | Aug 11, 2023

"Parasite" has already made history for South Korea as the country's first film to win a Best Picture Academy Award. There are some moments I can't wrap my head around though, and one of them was the inclusion of Illinois State into the dialogue.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 28, 2023

Cinematography, score, editing… everything’s absolutely perfect. Nothing is placed without purpose. Not a single line of dialogue is wasted. It would be a shame if anyone fails to watch this magnificent movie just because it’s in a foreign language.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Jul 24, 2023

Radically different films such as Knives Out, Us and Joker ... have all expressed the same social criticism. Parasite is perhaps the most pointed, explicitly showing how economic inequality brings out the worst in everyone, rich and poor alike.

Full Review | Jul 20, 2023

Bong Joon Ho’s many-sided, dark social satire is a cunning and resourceful commentary on South Korea’s economic inequality. Why it works is the relevance of that system across societies of every nation.

Full Review | Jun 14, 2023

These tiny details underline the inherent horror, and concur with the genre-defying essence of the story...

Full Review | May 15, 2023

Parasite will move you like nothing else.

Full Review | Mar 31, 2023

It is the last good thing that has happened since the shutdown...

Full Review | Mar 1, 2023

Visually stunning and searing satire...

Full Review | Dec 7, 2022

Incredible storytelling and examination of the class structure in Korea... Strong characterisation and performances create empathy from audiences, themselves becoming parasites to the film as host. Clinging on for dear life until the thrilling conclusion.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 12, 2022

Delicate directing and immaculate production design make Parasite the masterpiece it is. Its social-study script belongs in a lab, as it comes with storytelling lessons that transcend language. Reason why it became universal. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Oct 21, 2022

With a delicious black comedy edge, some surprising jolts of heartfelt emotion, and a violent throat punch when you’re least expecting it, “Parasite” is a movie that keeps you engaged and guessing.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 24, 2022

Here is a dark comedy from the great Bong Joon-Ho about class warfare that, depending on your mood, you may find to be a work of genius or too self-indulgent. One thing is certain, you’ve never seen anything quite like it.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 20, 2022

Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is a wryly detailed and superbly scripted portrait of contemporary class rage.

Full Review | Jul 20, 2022

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Neeru Bajwa’s Black Couture: A Masterclass in Monochrome Style

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Adharma Kadhaigal

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Bhale Unnade

35-Chinna Katha Kaadu

Mr.Bachchan

Purushothamudu

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Agathokakological

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Roopanthara

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Nayan Rahasya

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Kudi Haryane Val Di

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Maujaan Hi Maujaan

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White Punjab

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Gharat Ganpati

Ek Don Teen Chaar

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Aamhi Jarange

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Jaishree Krishh

Bushirt T-shirt

Shubh Yatra

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Users' reviews.

Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive . Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.

Kaushik Biswas 875 days ago

Wonderfully done film, outstanding story and a complete movie. A really nice and worth to watch.

User kushwaha 950 days ago

Vishal sethi 1211 days ago.

as movie started me and my friends were thinking this is not that good bit movie itself prove that why he won the Oscar the comedy drama thrilling everything is there . just watch it with patients

Yin Tun 1289 days ago

Subhrayu Mondal 1293 days ago

Psychological thriller. Mixture of both comedy and tragedy. Ending is quite confusing.

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