Parasite Movie Review
Here’s a disclaimer for you: Parasite was one of my most anticipated for this year. I was very excited for it and went to see it on the very first night it came out. So this is your warning: this review might be a little biased. I thought I would love it, and I did. Director Joon-ho Bong’s movies usually have incredibly interesting themes that I love to dissect and Parasite was no different.
The plot is pretty basic. A poor family consisting of a father, mother, son, and daughter are all unemployed. They catch a break when Kim Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi) lands a gig tutoring a rich young girl. When Kim discovers there are other opportunities for employment with the rich Park family, he rigs it to get his sister, mom, and dad involved.
That’s all I’m really willing to say as far as the plot goes. I went into the film not knowing more than that and I think you’ll enjoy it more if you don’t know everything. There are so many twists and turns that I did not expect and that was part of the fun of it. Bong is able to weave together a nuanced story that tugs at your heart strings while simultaneously making you say, “What in the world.”
One of the real strengths of the film is the acting. Bong has assembled an all star cast including Kim Ki-taek, Park Yeon-kyo, and my personal favorite So-dam Park. Park really steals the show for me. But all of the cast is able to incorporate hilarious moments into a fairly serious film with ease.
Parasite found Bong sticking with one of his favorite themes: class. There are so many amazing visuals that he includes to highlight class. He taps into cognitive mapping and our tendency to place the rich at the top with the poor at the bottom a lot in this film. There is one scene involving stairs that showcases this idea extraordinarily well (see if you can spot it when you see the film).
There’s a lot to unpack with Parasite, so prepare yourself to be thinking about it for a few days after you see it. I wish that I could go into more detail about this one but I really can’t without spoiling it. The acting and directing are superb, the plot has a lot to say about class and family dynamics, the cinematography is beautiful, and the ending is completely and utterly wild. Please go see Parasite.
Film or Movie: Film
You’ll like this film if:
1. You like Korean cinema
2. You are a fan of Joon-ho Bong
3. You want to see one of the best films of the year
