A good, relatable, and easy-to-access South Korean film, much like "City of God" was for Brazil.

Rating: 8/10 (9 February 2020)

Just saw Parasite for the first time with subtitles. For a foreign film from Korea, this is very accessible for all languages and audiences. The actors are all expressive, attractive, and do a really good job acting. The story has lots of universal, contemporary components to it of pop culture.
For what it's worth, the best way to describe this movie would be by calling it something like South Korea's "City of God", or something along those lines; what you have here is an impressive foreign film that is stylishly directed, well-written, and pretty gritty.
It starts out as a fun and enjoyable dark comedy, which slowly dwindles down during the second half when it becomes part thriller, part mystery (without giving away spoilers).
I wanted to give this movie the full 10 rating, but unfortunately I just could not. Sorry, but I had to question the ease at which the events unfolded, and that's not to say that it wasn't fun and perhaps it had to be that way to make the movie work, but there was slightly just enough questions to take it out of the "perfect" range of storytelling. The same issue also arose in the second, back half of the movie- some of the events that unfolded towards the end also raised some questions which cause it to not be a perfect 10.
However, other than these two (fairly big- big enough to deduct two points) flaws, the script is practically perfect, especially for a foreign film. The writers and director did a nice job of developing the story and added just enough layers to captivate, immerse, and challenge your mind, while also keeping it entertaining. They added just enough style to differentiate it and make it stand out as something thoughtful and creatively made.
I was hoping this would win me over for a Best Picture Oscar upset contender, but unfortunately, it just didn't quite prove enough to me to have confidence in that possibility. It could still happen, but after viewing it with an open mind, it looks like it's between Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917.
EDIT: Slept on it and decided I would still pick this over 1917 because at least it had a script with some meat.