Parasite by Bong Joon-ho

When my family showed me that "Parasite" was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, I knew I had to see it. Both my parents are 100% Korean and they were so excited that such an amazing Korean film director was given recognition. I am subscribed to a few film related YouTube channels and all were raving about this eye-opening movie. What I'm saying is that there was crazy amounts of hype for this movie, and it honestly went above my expectations.

The last few scenes made me feel multiple emotions. This is one of the few films that have made me speechless when the credits roll. The deeper meaning is just as entertaining and mind blowing as the surface story. I think all three families are parasitic, leeching onto different things and people. "Parasite" made me think and I want to rewatch again and again to uncover more. This film made me realize problems with social class discrimination and greed. Notice how many times I have written "made me".

I have seen other Bong Joon-ho movies, like Snowpiercer and Okja, but this one showed worldwide audiences how insanely genius he is. Every shot has meaning and is placed with a purpose. Every single actor is so so so so so talented. And lastly, every line of dialogue moves the story forward. Sadly, I had to read English subtitles due to my lack of language skill. The characters seemed so realistic and genuine and scarily, this story could happen in real life. All parts of the movie were so consistent and I could not think of another movie that has all these elements besides a few of my favorites.

There are two parts that made my brain scrambled, in the best way possible. One was the whole sequence where the husband living in the basement walks up the stairs and then stabs Jessica, causing all the commotion. Mr. Kim sees Mr. Park reach for his car keys underneath the husband's body to escape and bring his son to the ER. Mr. Park is disgusted by the body's smell, which leads to Mr. Kim stabbing him. He has been mocked for his smell throughout the entire movie. Sometimes even in front of his own family. The 'smell' is exactly what he hates most about himself, his poorness. The husband has been preaching Mr. Park for years and he doesn't even it. Mr. Kim's daughter has been killed and all of this causes him to snap and stab him. Next is the Morse Code scene at the end of the movie that reveals that he had hidden into the basement right after this. He is repeating the morse code message until his son reads the message. Kevin plans to cheat the system and get lots of money to eventually buy the house and free his father. We see a scene where this happens and the Kim family is reunited. However, the final scene is Kevin alone in their wrecked apartment. To make matters worse, Mr. Kim said before that he shouldn't make plans in life because they always go wrong. No plan, no loss. I could watch this movie over and over.

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5/5