Parasite (2019) ****1/2

 

This is one that everyone was talking about in 2019, but I never got around to watching. I have no excuse for missing it. The film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, then went on to sweep the 2020 Oscars, winning Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and becoming the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture. Fortunately, it came back around to streaming, just in time for spooky season, and I'm sure glad it did! “Parasite” is a riveting, creepy, violent exploration of class and economic desperation.

The Kim family live hand to mouth in a grubby, basement apartment. The son, Ki-Woo gets a job tutoring the daughter of a wealthy family, and he sets out to get employment for the rest of his family. Soon, the entire Kim clan have cleverly installed themselves in good jobs with the Park family. They are feeling pretty pleased with themselves, but they learn that they aren't the only ones who have secrets.

You really want to watch this without any more spoilers than that. The film's twists and turns are too delicious to ruin them. It's a story about class, economics, and, ultimately, desperation. The Kims, obviously, are desperate for a lift into the middle class. The Parks, however, are desperate in their own way. They are well-off, but not so rich that they could not slide back down the social ladder. Thus, they hire a tutor to help their daughter excel in school and an art therapist for the younger son, about whom Mrs. Park is very concerned. Who is the “parasite” of the title? It's up for debate. One of the great strengths of the film is its nuance. It does not hit you over the head (a-la “Squid Game”) with a preachy message about economic inequality, nor does it provide simple heroes and villains. Writer-director Bong Joon-ho (“Snowpiercer”) intended the title to be a double-entendre. Like parasites, the Kims insinuate themselves into the home, the body, of the Park family. The Parks, meanwhile, cannot even use their own dishwasher, and they could be said to feed off the cheap labor of people like the Kims.

Bong Joon-ho supposedly got the idea for “Parasite” from his early days working as a tutor. He started out writing the story as a play years ago, and it eventually evolved into this. If my description makes the movie sound at all like a downer, rest assured it is actually quite funny, and a joy to watch. Bong has crafted a perfectly-balanced, dark dramedy that well-deserves all its accolades and, even a couple years later, is a must-watch!

4.5 stars out of 5