Parasite
Starring: Kang-Ho Song, Park So-Dam, Choi Woo-shik, Cho-Yeo jeong
Directed by: Bong Joon Ho
Rated: R
Every year there seems to be a movie that receives an overwhelming amount of critical acclaim from the film community, but I can’t seem to understand the hype. This year that movie is Parasite, the latest by director Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer, Okja). It took home the prestigious Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Since that day, it has received tons of awards season buzz and critical praise.
The film follows the Kims, a low-income family who literally live underground, in an apartment that is falling apart. There’s the patriarch Kim-Ki-taek (Kang-Ho Song), matriarch Chung-Sook (Hye-jin Jang), the son Ki-Woo (Choi Woo-sik), and daughter Ki-jung (Park So-Dam who gives the most entertaining performance of the film). They struggle daily to make ends meet. An opportunity arises when Ki-woo is offered the chance to become an English tutor for the daughter of the wealthy Park family. After success with his tutoring job, all of the Kims find a way to get positions working for the Park family by manipulating the naive mother Yeon-kyo (Cho-Yeo jeong) and entangling themselves in a twisted game to take control of power in the house.
I was so excited to see Parasite. Many called it the year’s best film and hyped it as the perfect cinematic experience. However, I left the theater feeling disappointed, wondering if I saw the same thing that everyone else did. There’s no denying that Parasite is impressive on a technical level. Bong Joon Ho crafts Parasite in a way that all film lovers can appreciate. The smooth camera movements and precise editing showcase a tight-knit film that keeps you intrigued. Several sequences leave you on the edge of your seat, building just the right level of suspense. Bong keeps the tension brewing throughout the film’s runtime. The set design itself is a marvel. The Park family home is gorgeous, but it’s also “so metaphorical” to quote the film. The open spaces and staircases throughout the modern home symbolize the class differences between the two families. The Park family stands above in their world of wealth, while the Kim family looks up from below, trying to earn enough money to secure their next meal. This set design also works wonders for the Kim family home. The family must embark on a maze-like journey and descend thousands of stairs to return to their tiny underground apartment. While the Park home is open and spacious, the Kim's house is claustrophobic and restricted, showcasing the extreme class differences between the two families.
Despite the film’s technical achievements, I had a lot of problems with the overall story itself. Parasite begins as a satirical social comedy about class differences in South Korea. Then it takes a very bizarre tonal shift in the second and third acts. I’m fine when a film wants to mix genres because it happens all the time, but it just did not work for me here. It’s clear the film is meant to be profoundly metaphorical and culturally relevant. There’s a much deeper meaning than what we see at a surface level about the treatment of the lower class and the lives of the wealthy. However, the actual narrative is a bit too heavy-handed. I had the same issue with Bong Joon Ho’s film Okja. The theme of that film was screamed at the audience with no subtlety whatsoever. That’s the case here as well.
Bong Joon Ho has stated there are no good guys in Parasite. That’s pretty clear, but I would have appreciated a bit more characterization. The characters on both sides are one-dimensional caricatures. One side is rich; one side is poor. The wealthy family is dumb, and the poor family is conniving. It would have been genuinely challenging if the audience got to know some background about both families. We never get any real sense of decent character development, and the personal motivations are severely lacking any proper explanation other than “class warfare.” And trust me, that plotline is hammered home throughout the movie heavily.
I found the first act of Parasite to be quite engaging. Seeing the Kim family make their way into Park's home is very entertaining. However, there’s a specific event that takes place in the second act that derailed the movie for me. It totally shifts the tone for the rest of the film, making the plot wildly scattered. There’s a domino effect of violent events that left me questioning so many character motivations. In the end, the final 30 minutes feel like a compilation of “bet you didn’t expect the plot to go here!” moments more than a genuinely earned ending.
Most critics are loving Parasite, and its take on class division. While I find it to be a technically impressive film, the tonal inconsistencies and lack of characterization disappointed me.
My Rating: 6/10