"Parasite" Spoiler-Free Review

...or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Rich

Bong Joon-Ho returns with a satirical black comedy thriller about a lower-class family who enter the household of a rich family and begin to work for them.

NOTE: Since the best way to go about watching the film is without knowing much about the plot, I will go ahead and be vague as not to spoil the film.

The Good:

- The cinematography for the film is fairly impressive, as the pristine look of the rich familys' house provides a great contrast against the slighly more grim aesthetic of the poor family's household. 

-The production design is top-notch, as we get to see a sense of place and history with both the houses of the poor family and the rich one.

-The acting all across the board is terrific, as all the actors are at the top of their game, with special kudos to Song Kang-Ho as the patriarch of the poor family. The rich family gets a tad less focus, but they are also pretty good, especially one of the parents.

-The score in this film helps to provide a great amount of black comedy, as it elevates many of the sequences of the film, particularly in the first half. Only some of the score was composed for the film, however, not a single piece is wasted in really adding to the tale of the two families. 

-An aspect of the film that I'd also like to mention is the editing, as it is dynamic work that knows when to lengthen or shorten a scene for effect, while also managing to know how to keep a solid pace as to prevent the film from dragging at any point.

-One could make an argument that the true MVP of the film is Bong Joon-Ho, as his directing here is a quite astonishing achievement here. I don't want to get into it too much due to spoilers, but I will say that his work here is comparable to Okja in regards to tone.

-Of course, Bong Joon-Ho is screenplay is also an achievement itself, as the commentary on socioeconomic classes, wealth disparity, poverty and more are all well-handled, while also infusing it with the perfect amount of black comedy to go along with the plot.

The Bad:

-Hhmmm...nothing major honestly. I think everything here was terrific.

The Ugly:

-As much as the film has stayed with me, I will admit that the films' nihilism might not be for everyone, as it could just rub people the wrong way due to the actions of several of the characters.

The Verdict:

Parasite is an excellent film, as Joon-Ho lets you see take the film in for yourself without holding your hand, as it delves into topical issues that are really going around everywhere in the world, while still being entertaining.

5/5