Bong Joon-ho is always conscious of social inequities and class structure in his films, but Parasite may be as close to a manifesto as anything he's made yet, and it is magnificent. It's Bong at his greatest strengths and in full command of his unique craft. That is, his incredible ability to meld genre and instantly shift tone is on full display but in a controlled, contained manner that never feels excessive, unnecessary, or exploitative. And while he deftly handles heady themes and Big Ideas, Bong also crafts an astonishingly tight thriller.
Parasite begins as a satirical comedy of manners: Kim Ki-taek and his wife, son, and daughter live in poverty and in a tiny half-basement, working low-paying jobs and trying to make ends meet. Trying but failing, I should say, as we see them opening windows while they eat so the street clouds of insecticide waft in to help with pests. This kind of scene is at once hilarious and horrific, and it is often repeated in the film, as we become uncomfortably aware that the inequities of our world are at once bizarre and dangerous, ludicrous and deadly.
A friend of the family is preparing to leave for school and suggests the Kim son, Ki-woo, pose as a university student so he can tutor the daughter of a wealthy family. The Parks quickly hire Ki-woo and their daughter falls in love with him, but the Kims are quick to integrate themselves into the family. Posing as unrelated skilled workers (a therapist, a driver, and a housekeeper), they push their way into the Park household through manipulation, lies, and even framing the Parks' current employees. Everything snowballs into a very funny series of interactions and hoodwinks that culminate with the Parks leaving for a camping trip and the Kims lounging in the fancy house as if they owned the place. Could they be the titular parasites? One might think so, until the sudden turn.
I don't want to describe the plot itself here, because one of the main joys of Parasite is in the way writer/director Bong so carefully calculates his timing and execution. Every beat is used for maximum emotional and intellectual effect. Every textured surface, every light and shadow, every subtle shift of the camera forces us to live in the stylized but thickly realized world of raw class warfare. And when the movie suddenly -- and I mean so suddenly that the theater burst into gasps when it happened -- turns, it earns every bit of shock and awe it inspires. Just be aware that the parasites may not be who you expect. This is a true black comedy in that it is as funny as it is depressing, and often at the same time; pure entertainment that has a lot to say but never feels preachy, though life and death hang in the balance.
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