Crime & Class

Rating: 7/10 (1 December 2019)

An impoverished family finds ways to worm themselves into a wealthy household, until an unexpected turn of events throws their plans into disorder.
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Parasite is the best Korean film I've seen for quite awhile, though it's not without its flaws. Even allowing for poor translation, a good deal of the dialogue is weak and hard to follow, several plot threads are introduced that don't go anywhere or end up being satisfactorily explained, and too many elements (the morse code, for instance) stretch credulity and feel crowbarred in because they are necessary for the story the makers want to tell, rather than making any sense *within* that story.
But for all that, Parasite reminds me of everything that is so great and different about Korean cinema: a twisted, amoral, mischevious inventiveness, interspersing thoroughly leftfield turns with out-of-nowhere snatches of shocking and perfectly choreographed violence that make you involuntarily laugh out loud in both horror and admiration (in this instance, at a kick down some stairs). I honestly never saw the twist in this one coming at all, and it's a doozy, taking the film in an entirely different direction to what I'd been expecting.
Though not as great as its accompanying hype is saying, Parasite is still one of the most original and enjoyable films this year and definitely worth a look.