Parasite

perhaps the most fitting title for a film ever, and possibly the best film I have ever seen. what started off as an absurd comedy became a psychological thriller that still somehow seemed to carry its uncanny nature throughout, and within its chaotic caricatures of society, one message rings loud and clear: in a capitalistic society, the poor keep hurting the poor, and the rich keep indulging themselves. The Kim family at the start may be poor, but they still manage to share smiles and laughs together despite their situation. all this changes, however, with the arrival of Min, who gives them a rock that is said to bring material wealth, and tells his friend Ki-woo that he’ll set him up with a tutoring job whilst he’s away studying at a foreign university. this simple rock becomes both the bane and the boon of Ki-woo, who gets to working on his get-rich-quick scheme. the Kim family manages to weasel its way into the opulent Park family, replacing the driver, the housemaid, and bringing in an art tutor for their traumatised son Da-song. we see the poor make their way up the hill — literally and metaphorically — to try and take on the rich. all seems well, and the group’s elaborate plans to take over the Park family’s life are genuinely funny and enjoyable — they seem so well worked out, and we feel bemused at the gullibility of Yeon-gyo and her husband. the world of the poor is grey and dim, whilst the house of the Parks is glowing and abundant. We take Da-song’s comment about the Kim family’s smell to be just that — a passing comment that doesn’t seem to mean much apart from the fact that, as one member humorously mentions, they just need to start using different soaps and fabric conditioners. The tone begins to shift, however, when Moon-gyang rings the doorbell on what the Kim family had assumed would be a night to themselves in the rich Park household. the tone shift is so stark and memorable, and one of the best parts of this film. you think the Kim family is winning until that doorbell rings, and suddenly the film begins to shift from comedy to edge-of-your-seat thrills. suddenly, the Kim family is desperately fighting to ensure that Moon-gyang doesn’t reveal them as con artists, whilst hiding to ensure that the Park family doesn’t discover them trespassing after they return home early from a botched camping trip. Moon-gyang’s husband has been living in the Park basement for four years unbeknownst to all and is in a terrible state of finances— how familiar is the Kim family with this situation, and how ready are they to scorn them. they believe that they’ve won, they think the grand house of the Parks is theirs. they need not associate with the poor anymore when they have won the game of money! what a crushing society we live in that the poor should be happy to step on the heads of the poor to grab the ever-elusive riches that they so desire. as the Kim family hides though, the agreeable demeanour of the Park parents jarringly disappears. we find out that not only is Yeon-gyo wearing Ki-jung’s underwear — which, as far as she knows, was left in the car after she had been “taken advantage of” by their former driver — and desperate for drugs, but her husband is aroused by the fact that she is doing so. comments about smell rise up once again, and they become a lot more stark as we come to a painful realisation: the Park parents scorn those who have that “subway smell.” the Park parents go from silly to horrific in the space of two minutes, and all the while, Ki-taek, his wife and his daughter are hidden away, listening as their entire family is spat on. this change in the Parks is gut-wrenching. they may have been gullible, they may have been kind and paid your wages, but they did not like you, and you were not one of them. the family escapes, but in the ensuing storm, they run back down the hill to their lowly semi-basement, which has been flooded. their belongings are gone, they must start again, and as they relocate with the rest of the community to a gym to sleep, Ki-take tells his son that there is no point in setting plans, because they are doomed to fail anyway. there’s a point during the flooding scene when Ki-woo is clutching the rock that Min gave him whilst the lights flicker on and off, and it’s such a powerful moment that communicates the deep despair that permeates this whole segment. those in the height of the hills are unperturbed, whilst the poor below them fight for safety, still holding on to whatever they can. Da-song’s birthday approaches, and all members of the Kim family are invited. things go horribly wrong quickly once Moon-gyang’s husband makes it out of the basement, and he nearly kills Ki-woo with the very rock that he thought would give him material wealth and stabs Ki-jung, the beloved daughter who was supposed to be from Illinois, the one whom they called Jessica, the one whom they remarked that the opulence of the house suited the most. meanwhile, Da-song faints after seeing the “ghost” that haunted him years ago return, and whilst Dong-ik urges Ki-taek for the car keys, we see him once again, for the last time, cover his nose. his son is dying, people around him are in fear, and he still cannot see past his own arrogance. Ki-taek kills him, his wife kills Moon-gyang’s husband, and the scenes end with tragedy and pain. Ki-woo, however, is miraculously alive, and after escaping with a suspended court sentence, he uncovers a letter that his father has been communicating to him from the basement of the Park household using Morse code. The house has been sold, and he is now living in the basement, risking it all anytime he needs food. What a painfully ironic twist — the man who said that nothing matters has now become the ghost in the basement! Ki-woo is determined to buy the house, and so we see him finally stop trying to use shortcuts. he gets a degree, finds a well-paying job, and finally purchases the house. the remainder of his family reunite, and they spend the rest of their days living as they were meant to be, as kings and queens who sat upon the stars, doing nothing and having everything at their fingertips. or so he imagines, as he sits in the same semi-basement that he has always lived in, wearing the same clothes that he always wears, letting the rock of material wealth sink away, for that star which was riches has started to fade. for art to move us like this, it must carry the very essence that makes us human. we love these characters like they are our friends, and feel betrayed by them when they lie. a work of mastery like this deserves a review like this, and all who watch this are in for a ride of laughter, heartbreak, pain, satisfaction, tragedy, and frustration, all rolled into one. watch this film.