Review of Parasite (2019) by Theredsky — 30 Oct 2019

Parasite is a modern day masterpiece even though it’s not one of my favorite films nor is it my favorite film of the year. I have one tiny issue with the film but it is more of a nitpick. The film’s message is a little on the nose but I don’t have a huge issue with it but it is noticeable.

Other than that, this film is perfect. There is not one bad performance in the movie. Cho Yeo-jeong, Park So-dam, and Kang-Ho Song are standouts from the film. All 3 of them have some of the best acting of the year.

Their work with a fantastic script that is incredibly well written and clever makes their performance so much more enjoyable. Another aspect I loved was the cinematography. The film’s slow camera movements and slow tracking shots look absolutely beautiful which go along great with the fantastic production design.

The film’s story and themes make this film incredible. The story of this poor family slowly infiltrating a rich family only to find out that their house is not what it seems. It’s so incredibly tense.

You never know what is going to happen next and it’s always surprising to see what eventually happens. The film has themes of class divide and class warfare throughout which are very profound. The rich family says these lines about how great their life is while the opposite is happening to the poor family.

Every time this occurs, you see how the poor family reacts and makes the scene and film itself dramatically more tense. Another thing I liked about the film was the score by Jung Jaeil. His score adds so much more to the tension.

I know I’m using the word tension a lot but that’s what this film is. A constant build up of tension scene by scene until it all culminates in the finale. For me, each passing scene left me more and more on the edge of my seat.

One final aspect I want to touch on is the humor. Most of the jokes are cleverly written and while some of the jokes may not be that funny, I do appreciate how they were cleverly inserted instead of incredibly forced.

Except this film to be on a bunch of Top 10 lists at the end of the year. Overall, Parasite is a fantastic film with great acting, great cinematography, and a powerful story about class divide even if its message may be a little too on the nose.