Parasite

Parasite

Noun.

An organism that lives in or on an organism of another species (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other's expense.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

The Kim's are in a bad way. Starved of food and wifi in their basement Seoul apartment, life is getting desperate and when they can't even keep a job folding pizza boxes something has to give. Their son Ki-Woo (Choi Woo-shik) is offered employment as a substitute English teacher for the daughter of a rich family called the Park's. The Park's opulent existence is in stark contrast to the Kim's and Ki Woo is enchanted. The Kim's luckily are a snakey bunch and soon enough the entire family is employed but none of the Park's knows they are related to each other. It's a secret that can only be upheld for so long.

Very late in Parasite a man is laughing when he knows he shouldn't be. This is exactly how you'll feel throughout this movie. It's dark, cunning, violent, embarrassing, stressful and you'll have a whale of a time despite all that. There's something so entertaining about the gleefully scummy way the Kim's ingratiate their way into the Park's life that you almost admire them. Almost. You'll definitely empathise with them. Poverty has a way of making people inventive and the lengths Ki-Woo and his family go to just to get a menial job tell you a lot about desperation. It's a film about the have's and the have not's but it's not a rich versus poor story because you'll feel sorry for the Park's too. A distant father, Dong-ik (Lee Sun-kyun) and a mother, Yeon-gyo (Cho Yeo-jeong), with tunnel vision regarding her kids make things all to easy for the Kim's. Wealth has turned them into a family of helpless marks, just waiting to be preyed on. And the way they are preyed on. Oh man it's a jet black joy. It's a film you know Alfred Hitchcock would have enjoyed had he still been around.

Underwear, chats, fruit fuzz, furtive kisses, selfies and careful listening. All play their part in the Kim's plan. Father Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho) and his solemn but friendly face, the cutting matriarch Chung-sook (Chang Hyae Jin) who can turn on a penny, daughter Ki-jung (So-dam Park) who's pretty exterior hides a very cunning interior and Ki-Woo, the instigator who's too clever for his own good. Their plans work until they realise they aren't the only parasites around. Then all hell breaks loose. Black comedy becomes black. Carefully laid plans smash, things that threw you as odd earlier in the film suddenly make sense. Director Bong Joon Ho's house of cards comes crashing down and you know he's having a ball orchestrating it. You will too. You'll be very surprised what you'll laugh at when the aul adrenaline is pumping.

It's a hard movie to talk about without giving up spoilers but let me tell you there's stuff in here that you'll be thinking about for weeks. A wild grin at a garden party. A conversation about smell heard by the wrong person. The sound of stone against bone. That lovely looking ram-don dinner. The ending and it's horrible implications. It all makes for compulsive viewing and the acting is second to none across the board keeping it all feeling grounded even when things go haywire. Everything about it is impeccable tbh. It's a brilliantly conceived and written film. One that really lives up to the hype. I wish more Korean films got shown over here. There's always a level of ingenuity and playfulness about them even at their darkest moments.

Parasite is in cinemas from today. It's horribly enjoyable. Watch it with a peach.