*Warning! In order to discuss this film, I will be spoiling large aspects of the plot- I highly recommend this one though!*

Written by Han Jin-won and Bong Joon-ho, and directed by Bong Joon-ho, “Parasite” is a social satire that greatly benefits from the audience knowing as little as possible for your first viewing. Being the first film from South Korea to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars this year, it seemed like a perfectly good reason to check this one out. That, and the fact that Bong Joon-ho is an excellent director. Personally, I’ve only seen a few of his films, namely “Snowpiercer” and “The Host”, both of which were quite enjoyable and fun genre films that housed aspects of a critical eye towards society. This film, however, is far more critical of society and it’s financial machinations. If you want nothing more than my recommendation to see this film, then you have it already. It’s easily one of the best films of the year, and as already mentioned, the less you know, the better… I suspect. “Parasite” focuses on two families, the Kims, and the Parks. The Kims are in dire financial straits, a family of four adults living in a small, cramped, and sunken, apartment. They fold cardboard pizza boxes for income and allow street fumagation to freely blow through their windows- free fumagation is better than none, and besides, it will get rid of their bug problem. Eventually Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi), the son of the family, is offered a lucrative job by a close friend as an English tutor for the daughter of a rich family in town. Ki-woo’s friend is heading out of the country for awhile and he doesn’t want just anybody mentoring this girl, none of his collegiate peers were up to the task though, as they might simply fawn over the young girl instead of actually teaching her. After his interview is a success Ki-woo begins to analyze the Park family’s situation and assess how he may fit his other family members into the high life as well. It isn’t long before the Kim family brutally excises the other working class people that earn their livings from the Park family and replace them with a member of the Kim family, extravagantly performing an act, or scheme, to fool the Parks into accepting them into their realm with high dollar luxury positions such as Art Therapist or Handmaid.

A lot of the film tells its story purely through the visuals displayed onscreen. Through the staging and direction, we can see how differently the two families operate and how each family’s financial status orients their needs for certain skillsets. The two families are staged in near complete opposites, the Kims are almost always physically close together onscreen and working efficiently as a group. The Parks on the other hand are barely in any shots with other members of their family, and when they are there are large empty spaces inbetween them. This division extends to a multitude of layers that separate the two families. The Parks can afford to outsource skills that the Kims couldn’t live without, cooking, cleaning, understanding the needs and idosyncracies of their closest family members etc. The film even wisely showcases how even simple things can affect the families in wildly different ways. When a rainstorm ruins the Park’s camping trip and they have to come home early, they complain that it was “a disaster”. However, when the Kims return to their home at the bottom of the city, the rain that the Parks so quaintly admire in the night sky, has actually caused the Kims a real disaster in flooding their home. “Parasite” even goes so far as to show that while the Parks are very particular about their maids, housekeepers, and drivers “crossing the line” between work and their family life- they have no qualms about reaching out to the Kims while they’re off duty to request a litany of demands.

The writing and complexity of this film are at the core of why it works on so many levels. Literally involving levels to be exact. There’s a lot to be said of the imagery involving staircases throughout the film too. The Parks ascend stairways while the Kims descend, fearing a misstep into the abyss below. Keep an eye out for stairs, they’re all over the film, who goes up them, and who falls down them. I think one particualrly small aspect that could get overlooked, is actually one aspect that I respect the hell out of, creatively speaking. Bong Joon-ho has an opinion about the world and what it does to people, but he doesn’t lay any judgement on the characters. Neither the Parks or the Kims are full-fledged stereotypes, the film doesn’t even seem to embrace each family’s perception of the other. The Parks are not villains or naive, nor are the Kims triumphant protagonists or simple helpers. There are societal criticisms to be had for sure, but these events unfold plainly before us, without a wagging finger or an opinionated slant with a heavy-handed message. If you haven’t seen the message of the film yet, it seems, to me at least, to be about capitalism and how it can turn anyone into Parasites. The film cleverly makes an argument for how daily competition can get cutthroat, but more importantly it dives into how the poor can get lost in the chaos by trying to smother each other in an attempt to climb into the higher class. One of the most powerful scenes in the film is also its most depressing. I’ll leave the specifics to the third act, but when Ki-woo allows himself to be filled with hope at the thought of eventually saving his Father from isolation through the power of money.. it is this hope that has infected him, it is what continues the cycle of poverty and despair. Ki-Woo even has a plan. Which is even worse when considering what his father pointed out earlier in the film when revealing that lives with laid out plans are never lived that way.

I’d be a fool not to point out the crucial performances of all the actors in the film, the movie wouldn’t work without the skills on display and comittment to the craft. Kang-ho Song, as Ki-taek (the father of the Kim family), in particular was a fascinating performance to watch evolve over the course of the film, he did so much with even the smallest facial expressions. Everyone though put in standout performances. “Parasite” is a unique and powerful drama/thriller that I highly recommend to everyone. This movie should win Best Picture, it’s got my vote! (If I were voting for the Oscars that is…)

Final Score: 4 Parks, 4 Kims

*For fun, check out this video that further analyzes the film, be warned though, it contains ALL THE SPOILERS!