Synopsis
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
Who is the Audience for This Movie?
Viewers looking for a movie that shines a light on social issues
Review
I avoided all spoilers before watching Parasite, in hindsight that was the best decision I could have made. As a teenager/young adult I sought out every Korean movie I could and fell in love with the style of Korean cinema. Their cinema both feels and looks so much different then movies made in North America they tend to be more aggressive and lean into their movie themes as hard as they can to point of being too blunt in many cases. Parasite is the perfect introduction for anyone looking to dig into the Korean film landscape because it manages to push just far enough without going into the territory of hyper reality.
The set design makes this movie, both the wealthy families home and the poor families home contrast so starkly they almost become characters themselves it also helps that the shot framing is so stark its jarring (in a good way). At no point in Parasite does the movie let you be comfortable its underlying theme about class is continually driven hard in every conversation and action. You could make the argument it gets slightly too blunt with its theme but as I mentioned it fits in line with the style of Korean cinema.
On the acting front the entire cast feels like they are incredibly confident living in their characters. All of their performances look effortless. I feel like talking about what happens in the movie would be ruin it for anyone looking to watch it the only thing I will say is that the mid movie reveal comes out of nowhere and pushes the movie from good to great.
