Synopsis

Bong Joon Ho brings his work home to Korea in this pitch-black modern fairytale. Meet the Park Family: the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist, to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks.

Critics Views

“A masterful dissection of social inequality and the psychology of money.” Cinevue

“Furious and fiendishly well-crafted new film. … Giddy one moment, unbearably tense the next, and always so entertaining and fine-tuned that you don’t even notice when it’s changing gears, “Parasite” takes all of the beats you expect to find in a Bong film and shrinks them down with clockwork precision.” Indiewire

“A luxuriously watchable and satirical suspense drama.” The Guardian

“A raucous and blood-splattered social satire” The Telegraph

“Bong delivers a stunning return to form with this newest venture, which takes bold leaps between tenors and tone, but holds together beautifully thanks to the director’s unparalleled visual/spatial sophistication, and his unsparing social indictment.” The Wrap

“Parasite is a malign delight from start to finish, with a Machiavellian sense of mischief and a cinematic brio that shows Bong revelling in his Hitchcockian control of somewhat Buñuelian material.” Screen Daily

Winner of 4 Academy Awards 2020 for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. It became the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award recognition, as well as the first film not in English to win Best Picture. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, and became the first film not in English to win the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Film Rating

IMDb
 Critics: 96%  Audience 86%

Rotten Tomatoes
Critics positive review 99%   Audience Liked It 90%

 Stockbridge Audience Score: 86%

Audience Comments

Pity it had to have such a bloodthirsty ending
Potentially good plot. Then developed over the top. No indication where it was heading. Kept thinking it was finishing! Enjoyable overall.
Feeling very unsettled, found the film weird, almost like 2 separate films, chaotic. No problem with subtitles.
Almost a film of more than two halves from an entertaining tale of social movement, plotting and opportunism tinged with dry humour and pathos to a surreal and at times gratuitously violent follow up.
Full of suspense humour interesting characters well filmed. Lots of Hitchcock style surprises!
Unusual, Intriguing and thought- provoking storyline with comedic and dark bits that came from nowhere
Intriguing and interesting plot let down by last 10 minutes
Absorbing and thought provoking. I can see why it won so many awards.
Not as enjoyable as it was good
I had to close my eyes during the party scene! The characterisation was excellent, and the descent into chaos only too believable.
Goes beyond familiar presentation of rich-poor
“It was clever, tense, extremely well acted. Fully deserving of its Oscar win. I found the subtitles easier to read at the top of the screen.
Just wonder whether the film could have drawn to a close immediately following the dramatic and devastating flood scene, with unfinished business! For me the ending was a bit far fetched and unsatisfactory.”
Ingenious plot.
Very absorbing storyline with many twists and turns! Extremely enjoyable.
Toe-curling in parts, but also unexpected and clever.
Completely amazing and brilliant
Unusual, Intriguing and thought- provoking storyline with comedic and dark bits that came from nowhere. The last fifteen minutes were unnecessary, and I believe it would have been a more effective experience had it finished with the flood.
Clever plot with great acting all round. Loved it and could watch it again.