Movie Review: Parasite and that horror called Hope

Korean director Bong Joon Ho made history at the 92nd Academy Awards when his movie “Parasite” won the Best Picture Oscar, the first foreign-language film ever to win. While the film’s title suggests it might belong to the horror or end of days genre, Parasite is a universal story of rich vs poor.
 
The poor family, the Kims [mother, father, daughter, son], live in a damp roach-infested basement and eek out a pretty grim existence. The misery of their hand to mouth existence was reminiscent of Hirokazu Koreeda’s Japanese film Shoplifters (2018), also worth a watch. The Kims’ luck seems to turn when Ki-woo, the son is presented with an offer by his college friend to take on his English tutoring gig while he travels abroad.
 
Enter the rich family, the Parks, who live in a stunning architect-designed house that becomes a character in the story. No sooner has Ki-woo entrenched himself into the Park household is his family scheming to replace all other household staff. We’re told early on that the Parks are naive so while we can snigger at the relative ease the Kims manage to hoodwink their employers, we mustn’t overlook how disposable the previously loyal staff have become.
 
While the Parks go camping, the Kims run amok in their employer’s home until an unwanted guest arrives at the door and a rainstorm wreaks havoc. The movie turns from happy-go-lucky hoodwinking to desperate measures to get what you want or to avoid exposure. Ki-woo’s aspiration or desperation to belong versus the Park’s father’s revulsion of the poor makes for pretty harrowing social commentary. As Bong Joon Ho says, hope is the emotional parasite in the film.

 

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