Parasite is a movie that came out in late 2019 directed by Bong Joon-Ho. The film was praised by critics and audiences alike upon release for its unique way of presenting the story and an amazing critique on class systems. This notoriety was apparent as it won 4 awards at the Oscars in 2020, one of them being the grand award of best picture. 

This praise was rightfully earned by Bong Joon-Ho and the team who worked on this movie. Parasite just has this charm to it, it feels as if everything had passion put into it with its great cinematography, rich narrative, unique story that doesn’t have a single dull moment, and a cast that holds all of this together into a nice little package of a movie.  

The movie starts with the Kim family, poverty-stricken and scraping at the bottom of the barrel just to get by. All of this is conveyed by the setting of their home, a basement cluttered and complete with drunken fools constantly leaking on their property. This changes when the young son of the family, Ki Woo, starts to take a job of tutoring the daughter of a wealthy family while his friend Min (cameo role by popular South Korean actor Park Seo-Joons is going overseas. This is the start of a trend where the rest of the family con the wealthy Park family by replacing their old servants or making up a job on the spot. The sister Ki-jung created the fake job of art therapist for the younger brother of the family, The father Ki-taek took over as the family’s personal driver after causing the unemployment of the previous one, and the mother Chung Sook took over as the house servant after doing the same thing to the other servant. 

The writers of this movie did an excellent job creating a consistently enjoyable experience for the audience. Every plot beat was seemingly consistent and as far as I’m concerned didn’t clash with the overall narrative that Bong Joon-Ho was going for. Watching the two different family homes was like watching two completely different worlds. The film also covers different tones, at times it can be a little unsettling with the atmosphere and to put yourself in the tense situations that the Kim family has gotten themselves into. I might go as far as to say it has something for every film enthusiast. 

Set design and Cinematography played a large role as well. As stated before it’s like two worlds with the Kim and Park family’s living conditions. Nothing signifies this better than the place of their living. The Kim family is cramped and a huge jumble of appliances but at the same time it shows the bond of the family, comfortable with each other living in this condition and sharing something that most take for granted, their privacy. The Park family on the other hand has a minimalistic home, simple and clean just as it reflects the personality of each member of the more wealthy family. They absolutely nailed it in this department, set design just ties into the class struggle theme this movie was going for and you have got to appreciate it when watching this film. 

Parasite was one of the finest films to come out of last year and is pure entertainment to watch. It truly is Bong Joon-Ho’s magnum opus of a film and every film enthusiast or someone just looking to watch a film should give this a watch it is worth every minute and is on par with other similar films like Train to Busan (another great film would recommend). You can stream Parasite on Hulu and from the bottom of my heart, watch this film and support the filmmakers who put hard work into it. 

11/10 needs improvement.