Parasite (2019)

Parasite is a darkly comic, tightly wound thriller about the Kim family — Ki-taek, Chung-sook, Ki-woo and Ki-jung — who scrape by in a cramped, semi-basement apartment and survive on small cons and odd jobs. When Ki-woo is hired as a faux English tutor for the wealthy Park family's daughter, the Kims ingeniously insert themselves into the Parks’ modernist household, replacing staff members one by one. Their small, carefully orchestrated deceptions spiral into ever-riskier lies, bringing them into conflict with the Parks’ complacent privilege and the house’s long-time housekeeper, and exposing the brutal fault lines between wealth and poverty. Watching Parasite is an experience of tonal shifts and mounting tension: it starts with sly, uncomfortable humor and social satire, then slowly tightens into a suspenseful, unpredictable drama with visceral shocks. The film juxtaposes two worlds — the airy, immaculate Park home and the damp, cramped Kim basement — using production design and sharp performances to make class difference feel immediate and intimate. Viewers will laugh, cringe, and be unsettled as sympathy and contempt blur; the story’s moral ambiguity and sudden reversals leave a lingering emotional and intellectual impact long after the credits roll.

Actors: Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Cho

Director: Bong Joon Ho

Runtime: 132 min

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Thriller

97 /100 8.5 /10 9.1 /10