Parasite

Bong Joon-Ho's Parasite is that rare kind of movie.  One that can constantly surprise you from beginning to end.  It's a movie that veers wildly in multiple directions, but for once it feels natural, instead of the result of a convoluted screenplay that doesn't know which way to go.  It's a social satire, a broad dark comedy, and a thriller.  It's also one of the truly great films of the year.

With a movie like this, the obvious question for the critic becomes, how much do they reveal in their review?  After all, the best quality of this film is its ability to surprise.  How do you discuss it in depth without giving away any of its secrets?  Some critics will simply put a "Spoiler Warning" in their review, but I don't like doing that unless it's absolutely necessary.  My hope is that when the reader watches the film after reading my review that they will have the same kind of experience that I did in the theater.  So, I will have to tread carefully here.  All I will say is that if you think you've figured out where the movie is going to go from the synopsis I am about to give, you probably have no idea.  Parasite delights in not only going beyond expectations, but going into areas that would probably derail lesser movies, but this one keeps on a steady ground the entire time.

The film opens by introducing us to a family living in poverty in South Korea.  Their small apartment is so infested with insects, they prefer to open up the windows when someone is fumigating outside, in the hopes that the chemicals being sprayed outside will pour in and take care of their own problem.  They have to steal wi-fi from the local coffee shop, and fold pizza boxes for a fast food company in order to make a small bit of money.  However, an opportunity for the family arises when their teenage son Kim Ki-woo (Choi Woo-sik) is given the chance to be an English tutor for a young girl (Jung Ziso) who lives in a beautiful home with a wealthy and powerful family.  He changes his name to "Kevin", saying that he has extensive experience living abroad and speaking English so that the family will hire him.  He also strikes up a potential romantic relationship with the girl as he begins to tutor her.

However, "Kevin" has much stronger ambitions.  He sets about a series of schemes in which the wealthy family will have to hire the rest of his own family for various positions around the house, so that his entire family can make money off of them.  He starts by convincing the girl's mother (Jo Yeo-jeong) that her youngest son needs an art tutor, and that she should hire his sister "Jessica" (Park So-dam).  Eventually, he is also able to con the family to also hire his father (Song Kang-Ho) as a chauffeur, and his mother (Chang Hyae-jin) as the new housekeeper.  In a conventional movie, we would get the expected plot where lies ultimately unravel.  Parasite goes much deeper, and in vastly different directions than you would expect, so this is all of the plot that I will say.  The rest is for you to discover.

A movie like this that has so many twists and turns, and goes in so many multiple directions, needs an air-tight script, and the one provided by director Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-wan is one of the best to hit the screen all year.  It's not just how meticulously crafted the plot is and how it keeps its multiple tonal shifts in line, but it's also how natural the dialogue sounds.  Nobody talks in exposition, and nobody says something in order to move the plot along.  In other words, it often sounds like people actually having a conversation more often than not.  But more than that, it's how expertly the script changes tone when needed.  It can be light and funny, it can be intense, and it can also be tremendously brutal.  This is a movie that is constructed of scenes that probably should not fit together, and yet they do, because the screenwriters have thought this thing out, and it shows when it plays out on the screen.

Parasite is also actually about something, and while it's not subtle, it doesn't feel the need to constantly spell out what it's trying to say.  As the poor and wealthy families collide with one another, and the poor family find themselves stuck between two worlds (they work at the beautiful home all day, then come back to their dingy, infested apartment), it's obvious that the movie is making a statement about how the wealthy live off of the poor.  I spent the past weekend staying at a luxury hotel in New York City, and seeing this movie made me wonder about the lives of the people who work there.  They dress in fine suits on their job, smile politely, and go out of their way to make the guest's stay comfortable.  But, what kind of place do they go home to?  It's a question I surprisingly never asked myself before.  I have stayed at the hotel numerous times, and never actually wondered about the lives of the people who checked my bags, or turned down my bed at night leaving the gourmet chocolates on the pillow.

That's the kind of movie this is.  It's not only surprising and supremely entertaining, but it makes you look at certain people who are around you every day differently.  Parasite is chaotic, savage and sort of sad, but it can also be tremendously funny and bright.  It's the kind of movie you really don't expect, but when it's done, you kind of wish there were more like it - The kind of film that pulls you in effortlessly, stays with you long after it's done, and is not forgotten.

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