Continuing our coverage of Oscar-nominated films, guest writer Max from optimistic_critic_reviews has a look at Parasite.
I had no idea what to expect from this film but I loved it. Parasite follows a lower class family as their plan to each infiltrate and work for one upper class family becomes much more complicated than they envisioned.
No spoilers:
From scene one I absolutely loved the main characters. The family we follow in this film feels so real, with the writing and acting from everyone being so fantastic and showing the humorous interactions between them all. Starting to see them all weed out the people who already worked for the rich family and take over their jobs was also hilarious and great to watch.
The whole first half of the movie was hilarious, which was surprising considering I was reading the jokes through subtitles, but that was never an issue.
I was so invested from the start, and then just when I thought I knew where the film was going, something happens around the halfway point and it completely changes everything. From there it became one of the most tense and unpredictable movies I’ve watched in a while, all culminating in a finale that was shocking to say the least.
The cinematography is also beautiful at times, with some really diverse and striking locations to boot which made the film so much more unique. They handled the theme of class really well also, with great written and visual parallels that built off of one another.
There’s so much in this film that’s really weird, and in any other circumstance would be a negative, but this film manages to make it all work. The shifts in tone for starters; it goes from comedy/drama, to thriller (ish), to borderline horror by the end. Even the ending is odd, but the great parallels to other parts of the film make it work. I’m still thinking through if some things work or not if I’m being honest, so who knows how I’ll feel when I inevitably rewatch it.
Overall, Bong Joon Ho has really delivered a unique, interesting, engaging, and thrilling film with fantastic characters, striking visuals, and some truly unexpected twists. I would highly recommend.
Final grade: A
Max is just someone who loves movies/tv shows and wants to show them some love. Find more on instagram at optimistic_critic_reviews.