Unlike Anything You've Ever Seen

Rating: Null/10 (1 December 2019)

The winner of the prestigious Palme D'or back in May at the Cannes Film Festival, South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho has crafted the most original and entertaining film of 2019 in "Parasite," a film layered in style and creativity.
Set in South Korea, "Parasite" follows the unemployed Kim family of four living in dire poverty in the metropolitan slums who collaboratively take an interest in the extremely wealthy Park family and one by one infiltarte their house through a master plan of schemes and lies to be employed by them. The patriarch, Kim ki-Taek, strives to become the Parks' personal chauffeur, the matrich, Moon-gwang, pursues a position as the family's maid, while their son and daughter Kim Ki-woo and Kim Ki-jung become tutors for the family's son and daughter.
Each family member goes to extreme lengths to pull off their deceptive lies in order to maintain their positions, a testament to the desperate measures impoverished people are willing to go in order to get by these days. Joon Ho manages to examine the increasing inequalities between the rich and poor without ramming a political social statement down our throats. Instead, the filmmakers subtly exemplifies how both wealthy and poor people are shaped by a competitive global capitalist economy, never taking a side on which family is more of a moral embodiment.
Joon Ho expresses how people of both wealth and poverty leach off each other like parasites, the Kim family leaching off of their wealthy employers the Parks, while the Parks leach off of them for their labor. Joon Ho reveals how we as human beings use each other for personal gain and how such a relationship is embodied in our society. The fashion he used to express such a phenomenon is one of pure cinematic magic, a rich story that hits you like an ocean wave and takes twists and turns like you can't imagine.
'Parasite" plays out as a darkly comedic satire, it's dark comedy sharp and poignant, yet eventually takes a direction that no one will be able to see coming. Joon Ho's ingenious script and artistic cinematic direction lead us into a film that is simply unlike anything in the history of cinema. This is a film that is able to make us laugh one minute and then have our hearts beating out of our chests the next due to the gripping and riveting intensity on screen.
What gives the film a test for the audience is how we genuinely want the Kims tos succeed with their plan despite their vicious lies and desperation. Each actor delivers a humorous yet mesmerizing performance that captures the emotions and frustrations of not only poverty, but of determination and blind ambition.
Director Bong Joon Ho proves he's one of the world's very best filmmakers with not only his brilliant story, but the way he's able to manipulate the audience from start to finish and craft a film with sharp imagery that illuminates the eyes. He creates an individualistic film style built upon pitch-perfect editing, gorgeous opera music that captures the film's mood, shocking twists and gripping conflict.
"Parasite" will surely be a major contender for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards and is one of the most memorable foreign films of the 21st century. This is the kind of film that shows you what movies can do and one that makes you fall in love with cinema again.