Let Parasite Worm its Way into your Heart

Equal parts humor and thriller in a movie I promise you’ve never seen before.

By Jacob Schermerhorn

(No worries, this is a spoiler free review!)

I had the pleasure of seeing Parasite in South Korea this summer and even that early, it was evident this movie was going to make waves when it was released to a wider audience. What seems a simple story of low-class hustlers slowly but surely explodes into a full-blown critique of rich versus poor.

As the movie begins, a college student friend visits the down-on-their-luck Kim family. He comes with an offer to son Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi): take over tutoring a rich high school girl in English while he is studying abroad. Ki-woo accepts the job and cons his way up the ladder, securing employment for his sister Ki-jung (So-dam Park) as an art teacher, his father Ki-taek (Kang-ho Song) as a chauffeur, and his mother Chung-sook (Hye-jin Jang) as a housekeeper. The scheme is carried out swimmingly and soon the entire family is staying at the house while the rich owners are away. But as events unfold, the Kim family realizes that not all is as it seems.

Without getting into spoilers, this movie is separated into two halves, with the Kim family inserting themselves into the upper-class lifestyle shot like a heist or scam movie. This section contains the most humor with the rich Park family portrayed as easily fooled and out of touch. The Park mother Yeon-kyo (Yeo-jeong Jo) is particularly convincing as a useless, bored and emptyheaded but also sympathetic housewife. The latter half of the film is a thrill ride that takes viewers through a nail-biting climax. Be prepared to be unprepared for the twists. The best part about this is that both halves are shot with deceptive efficiency and grace. (Keep an eye out for lines that divide the frame between characters and what that might mean about these characters.)

Again, without spoiling events, Parasite is clearly about class conflict and rich versus poor. However, its thesis about that topic is less clear. Snowpiercer, director Bong Joon-Ho’s 2014 film, laid out a clear villain with its upper-class train passengers. However, Parasite does not demonize the rich or poor and instead creates three-dimensional, if admittedly dramatic characters. Because of that, the movie sticks with you long after you see it.

Thinking ahead to awards season, it is easy to see this movie get nominated for best foreign film. What remains to be seen is if it can be a best picture nominee. Roma most recently achieved a nomination in both categories at the Academy Awards, perhaps Parasite is next.