Parasite

The movie for our times.

Bong Joon-Ho’s Korean films have always cast a sharp look at Korean society: its conservatism, corruption, and class inequality. I prefer his Korean films to his American attempts. The Host, Mother, and Memories of Murder are all extraordinary movies, masterpieces of tone control, sometimes dark, sometimes sunnier satires, all deeply critical of Korean society. In contrast, both Snowpiercer and Okja seem bloated and disheveled.

Truth is, Bong doesn’t need millions in special effects. He is a master storyteller who mixes humor, horror and hubris expertly. In Parasite he has spun a timely yarn that is both unmistakably local yet transcends borders. Parasite is Los Olvidados for our times, with a working class family in free fall.

The Kims live in a cramped basement apartment that is almost surreal. The toilet is perched near the ceiling, while the family watches a drunk routinely urinate on their doorstep from their only window as if in widescreen. Unemployed dad (Bong’s stalwart Kang-Ho Song), mom, and two teenage kids eke out a living folding pizza boxes badly. They seem to be more industrious at concocting scams than at getting their stuff together.

The Kims are in a rut, but at first they don’t seem to be too eager to change things. They get by eating junk food and stealing wifi, and they’re somehow merry and plucky despite…