Parasite (2019)
Movie Details
- Original Title: 기생충 (Gisaengchung)
- Release Date: May 21, 2019 (Cannes); October 11, 2019 (US)
- Director: Bong Joon-ho
- Screenplay: Bong Joon-ho, Han Jin-won
- Cinematography: Hong Kyung-pyo
- Music: Jung Jae-il
- Budget: $11.4 million
- Box Office: $258.7 million
- Production Company: Barunson E&A
- Distributor: CJ Entertainment (South Korea); Neon (United States)
Cast
- Song Kang-ho as Kim Ki-taek
- Jang Hye-jin as Chung-sook
- Choi Woo-shik as Ki-woo
- Park So-dam as Ki-jung
- Lee Sun-kyun as Park Dong-ik
- Cho Yeo-jeong as Yeon-kyo
- Jung Ji-so as Da-hye
- Jung Hyeon-jun as Da-song
- Lee Jung-eun as Moon-gwang
- Park Myung-hoon as Geun-sae
Awards & Recognition
- Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film
- Cannes Film Festival: Palme d'Or (unanimous vote)
- Golden Globe Awards: Best Foreign Language Film
- BAFTA Awards: Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Not in the English Language
- Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
- First South Korean film: to win the Palme d'Or and Academy Award for Best Picture
- First non-English language film: to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards
Synopsis & Analysis
Synopsis
The Kim family—father Ki-taek, mother Chung-sook, son Ki-woo, and daughter Ki-jung—live in a cramped semi-basement apartment in Seoul, struggling with poverty and unemployment. When Ki-woo's friend Min offers him a job as an English tutor for the wealthy Park family's daughter, a unique opportunity presents itself.
Using forged documents and elaborate deception, Ki-woo secures the tutoring position. Soon, the entire Kim family infiltrates the Park household: Ki-jung poses as an art therapist for the Parks' young son, Ki-taek becomes their driver, and Chung-sook replaces the Parks' longtime housekeeper after the Kims engineer her dismissal by exploiting her peach allergy.
The Kims' scheme unravels when the former housekeeper, Moon-gwang, returns during the Parks' camping trip, revealing a shocking secret: her husband, Geun-sae, has been living in a hidden bunker beneath the house for years to hide from loan sharks. A chaotic confrontation ensues between the two families, culminating in a violent tragedy during a garden party when the Parks return early from their trip. Ultimately, Ki-woo is left with brain damage, Ki-jung is killed, Chung-sook kills the Parks' patriarch after he reacts with disgust to Geun-sae's smell, and Ki-taek flees into the hidden bunker, where he remains trapped, communicating with his son through Morse code via a flickering light.
Thematic Analysis
Class Disparity and Inequality
At its core, "Parasite" is a piercing examination of socioeconomic inequality in contemporary society. Bong uses vertical spaces throughout the film to visualize class hierarchy: the Parks live in an architectural marvel perched high on a hill, while the Kims dwell in a semi-basement apartment (banjiha) where they're literally below street level, urinated on by drunks and fumigated by city workers. The visual metaphor of ascending and descending staircases throughout the film reinforces this vertical class structure.
The film complicates simple notions of class villainy by portraying both families with nuance. The Parks aren't overtly cruel—they're polite employers who pay well—but their privilege allows them to remain oblivious to the struggles of those beneath them. Similarly, the Kims' schemes aren't presented as purely villainous but as necessary survival tactics in an unequal system. As Ki-taek notes, "If I had all this money, I'd be nice too."
Symbiosis and Parasitism
The film's title operates on multiple levels, challenging viewers to consider who the actual "parasites" are. While the Kim family infiltrates the Park household, the film suggests that wealthy families like the Parks are equally parasitic, extracting labor and services from the working class while remaining disconnected from their reality. This question becomes more complex with the revelation of Geun-sae living beneath the house, creating a literal multi-level parasitic structure.
The symbiotic relationship between the classes initially appears beneficial to both—the Parks receive services they desire, while the Kims receive employment and access to luxury—but the arrangement is fundamentally unstable because it's built on deception and exploitation rather than mutual respect and acknowledgment. The breakdown of this symbiosis during the film's climactic party scene reveals how thin the veneer of civility is between classes.
Invisibility and Smell as Class Markers
Throughout "Parasite," Bong employs the motif of smell as an inescapable class signifier. Despite the Kims' efforts to integrate into the upper-class world, they cannot escape the smell that marks them as poor—what Mr. Park describes as "the smell of people who ride the subway." This invisible but unmistakable marker represents how class differences persist even when superficial markers are erased.
Similarly, the film explores how the wealthy are able to render the working class invisible when convenient. The Parks discuss their staff in front of them as if they can't hear, and the presence of Geun-sae in the bunker represents the extreme of this invisibility—a literal underclass existing below the consciousness of the wealthy. This theme culminates in the garden party scene when Mr. Park's revulsion at Geun-sae's smell triggers Ki-taek's violent response, suggesting that being seen as fundamentally repulsive is the ultimate dehumanization.
The Impossibility of Class Transcendence
The film ultimately suggests that true class transcendence is impossible within the current socioeconomic system. Ki-woo's fantasy of earning enough money to buy the Parks' house and free his father represents a naive belief in upward mobility. The film's cyclical structure—ending with Ki-woo back in the semi-basement, dreaming of an impossible future—reinforces the trap of poverty.
The morse code communications between father and son across an unbridgeable physical distance serves as a metaphor for the unbridgeable class divide. Despite their intelligence, resourcefulness, and willingness to work, the Kims remain trapped by structural forces beyond their control. The film's bittersweet conclusion suggests that while imagination and hope persist, the material reality of class inequality remains intractable.
Key Scenes Analysis
The Fumigation Scene
Early in the film, pest control fumigators spray the streets outside the Kims' semi-basement apartment. While other residents flee, Ki-taek insists the family keep their windows open to get "free extermination." This darkly comic scene establishes both the family's desperate economic situation and their resourceful, pragmatic approach to survival. The image of the family choking on insecticide rather than spending money foreshadows how their poverty will continue to suffocate them throughout the narrative, while establishing the film's tragicomic tone.
The "Ghost" Encounter
When Da-song, the Parks' young son, sees multiple "ghosts" emerging from the basement late at night (actually the hidden Kim family members), the scene operates on multiple levels. On a narrative level, it creates tension and nearly exposes the Kims' scheme. Symbolically, it presents the working-class characters as literal specters haunting the wealthy home—visible to innocent children not yet socialized to ignore the lower classes. The scene's use of horror conventions to depict class confrontation exemplifies Bong's genre-fluid approach, using supernatural imagery to illuminate social realities.
The Rainstorm Sequence
The film's extended rainstorm sequence creates a powerful visual contrast between how the same weather event affects different social classes. For the Parks, the rain provides a romantic backdrop that clears the air and creates an opportunity for an impromptu camping trip. For the Kims, it causes catastrophic flooding that destroys their home and possessions. Bong's virtuosic direction follows the Kim family as they descend multiple staircases through increasingly severe flooding to reach their submerged apartment—a literal manifestation of how far they've fallen and how thoroughly they're drowning in poverty. The sequence builds to Ki-taek's recovery of the scholar's stone given to them by Min, a symbol of aspiration now submerged in sewage, embodying how even their dreams have been contaminated.
The Basement Discovery
The revelation of the hidden bunker beneath the Parks' home represents the film's major narrative twist while deepening its thematic exploration of class. The scene begins with dark comedy as the former housekeeper Moon-gwang performs an exaggerated ritual before a seemingly ordinary wall, but shifts to horror as the basement's existence is revealed. The discovery that another family has been living beneath the Parks for years adds a new layer to the parasitic hierarchy: the Kims aren't at the bottom after all. This sequence brilliantly reconfigures the film's dynamics, creating the central conflict between those competing for the scraps from the wealthy's table rather than a direct confrontation between the highest and lowest classes—a nuanced commentary on how capitalism often pits the working class against itself rather than against the actual holders of power.
The Garden Party Climax
The film's climactic garden party sequence masterfully brings together all of its thematic and narrative threads, escalating from idyllic celebration to shocking violence. The scene begins with the Parks hosting an impromptu birthday party for their son, unaware of the chaos unfolding beneath their feet. Bong constructs the sequence with precise control of information: the audience knows about Geun-sae's escape and the violence in the basement, creating unbearable tension as the Parks remain oblivious.
The moment when Geun-sae emerges to attack Ki-woo with the scholar's stone constitutes the film's most shocking eruption of violence—the literal underclass rising up with the very symbol of aspiration now weaponized. But the scene's most profound moment is more subtle: when Mr. Park recoils from Geun-sae's smell, Ki-taek realizes that despite his service and competence, he is fundamentally viewed with disgust. This realization triggers his fatal stabbing of Mr. Park—a spontaneous class rebellion born not from planned revolution but from the unbearable weight of accumulated humiliation. The garden party's transformation from celebration to bloodbath visualizes the film's central thesis: that the illusion of harmonious class coexistence is unsustainable and violent rupture is inevitable.
Visual Style & Technical Analysis
Architectural Spaces as Visual Metaphor
Production designer Lee Ha-jun created two complete houses for the film—the Parks' modernist mansion was built entirely on a set, allowing Bong and cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo complete control over the visual architecture. The house serves as more than a setting; it's a character in itself and a physical manifestation of class structure.
The Parks' home is designed with clean horizontal lines, abundant natural light, and expansive windows—a modernist ideal that represents wealth's privilege of privacy paradoxically displayed as transparency. In contrast, the Kims' semi-basement features cramped vertical compositions, artificial lighting, and high windows that passersby can look down into, visualizing how poverty strips them of both space and privacy.
The film employs a sophisticated visual language of staircases, levels, and thresholds throughout, using elevation changes to track the characters' social positioning. Every transition between social spaces involves ascending or descending, with the camera often moving vertically to emphasize these shifts. This visual pattern reaches its apotheosis in the rain sequence, when the Kims must descend countless staircases to reach their flooded home.
Cinematography and Visual Storytelling
Hong Kyung-pyo's cinematography employs distinct visual approaches for different social worlds. The Parks' home is shot with stable, geometric compositions, often using wide shots that emphasize the expansiveness of their space. In contrast, the Kims' apartment and the underground bunker are frequently captured with handheld camera work, tighter framing, and more chaotic compositions.
The film's color palette is similarly stratified: the Parks' world is bathed in warm, natural light with earthy tones, while the Kims' basement home has a greenish fluorescent cast. These color distinctions create an immediate visual shorthand for which social space we're occupying at any moment.
Bong and Hong frequently employ symmetrical frontal compositions reminiscent of Wes Anderson, but subvert this aesthetic with unexpected intrusions and asymmetrical elements that disrupt the frame—visualizing how the neat compartmentalization of social classes is ultimately unsustainable. The film's precise visual blocking often places characters in layers of depth within the frame, creating compositions where figures from different social positions occupy the same shot but at different distances from the camera—a visual metaphor for their social proximity yet emotional distance.
Sound Design and Musical Score
Composer Jung Jae-il's score moves fluidly between genres, mirroring the film's own genre-bending approach. The main theme, "Belt of Faith," combines classical strings with more contemporary percussive elements, creating an unsettling hybrid that matches the film's tonal complexity. The score intensifies as the film progresses, with relatively sparse musical presence in early scenes giving way to more prominent cues as tensions escalate.
The film's sound design employs subtle class markers throughout, contrasting the hushed, controlled soundscape of the Parks' home with the noisier environment of the Kims' apartment, where neighbor sounds, street noise, and the hum of the city constantly intrude. This audio distinction reinforces how wealth provides not just physical comfort but sonic isolation from the world's unpleasantness.
Perhaps the most innovative use of sound comes during the scene where the Kims hide under the Parks' coffee table. The intimate conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Park shifts from romantic to insulting as they privately mock Ki-taek's smell. The scene maintains a consistent visual perspective but shifts its emotional register entirely through dialogue, demonstrating how proximity without equality inevitably leads to humiliation.
Editing and Narrative Structure
Editor Yang Jin-mo constructs a narrative that begins with the meticulous pacing of a con artist film, establishing the Kims' infiltration of the Park household with methodical precision. The film's first half employs the rhythms of comedy and heist cinema, with quick cuts and timing that enhance the humor of the family's schemes.
The discovery of the hidden bunker marks not just a narrative turning point but a shift in editing approach, with longer takes, more sustained tension, and fewer cuts creating a growing sense of unease. This structural shift mirrors the film's generic evolution from dark comedy to thriller to tragedy.
The film employs several virtuosic montage sequences, most notably during the "Jessica" montage when the Kims scheme to remove the housekeeper. These sequences compress time while showcasing the family's resourcefulness and teamwork, using rapid cutting and visual shorthand to advance the plot while maintaining the film's propulsive momentum.
Perhaps most significantly, the film's ending returns to its beginning, with Ki-woo back in the semi-basement but now dreaming of buying the house and rescuing his father. This cyclical structure suggests both the persistence of hope and the inescapability of class stratification—a bittersweet ambiguity that refuses simple resolution to complex social problems.
Cultural Context & Global Reception
Korean Socioeconomic Context
"Parasite" emerges from specific Korean socioeconomic realities while addressing universal themes of inequality. The semi-basement apartments (banjiha) depicted in the film are a real housing category in Seoul, originally built as bunkers during Cold War tensions with North Korea but later converted to residential use for low-income residents. These spaces represent a uniquely Korean manifestation of urban inequality, where proximity to wealth doesn't equate to access.
The film also reflects South Korea's rapid economic transformation, which has created stark generational and class divides. The Kims represent the precariat class that has emerged in Korea's hyper-competitive society, where even educated young people struggle to find stable employment. Ki-woo's forgery of a university diploma reflects the intense pressure around education and credentials in Korean society, where university entrance examinations can determine entire life trajectories.
While these elements are specifically Korean, their resonance with global audiences suggests how late-stage capitalism has created similar patterns of inequality worldwide, making the film's examination of class transcend cultural specificity.
Translation and Cultural Specificity
The film's international success raised interesting questions about translation and cultural specificity. Translator Darcy Paquet played a crucial role in creating the English subtitles that conveyed both the literal meaning and cultural nuances of the Korean dialogue. Certain elements required particular attention—for instance, the scholar's stone (or "viewing stone") has significant cultural meaning in Korea that might not be immediately apparent to Western viewers.
The Parks' modernist home, designed by fictional architect Namgoong, represents a particular aspiration in Korean urban life where such spacious private homes are exceedingly rare. The rain sequence likewise carries specific resonance in a country where seasonal monsoons can cause devastating flooding in lower-lying areas.
Rather than diluting these culturally specific elements, Bong and his team trusted in their emotional and narrative clarity, allowing audiences worldwide to connect with the film's universal themes through its particular Korean expression. As Bong himself noted when accepting his Golden Globe: "Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films."
Oscar Success and Global Impact
"Parasite" made history as the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. This unprecedented achievement represented a significant shift in global cinema recognition and challenged Hollywood's traditional insularity.
The film's critical and commercial success worldwide—grossing over $258 million on a budget of about $11 million—demonstrated the potential market for international films that don't compromise artistic vision or cultural specificity. It also highlighted the growing global influence of Korean culture, coming amid the worldwide popularity of K-pop, K-dramas, and Korean cuisine—a phenomenon sometimes called the "Korean Wave" or "Hallyu."
Beyond its cultural impact, "Parasite" sparked renewed conversations about economic inequality and class stratification worldwide. The film's release coincided with growing global awareness of wealth disparities, making its thematic exploration particularly timely. In the United States, conservative commentators criticized the film's Oscar wins as politically motivated, inadvertently confirming the film's potency as social commentary that transcends entertainment.
Since its release, "Parasite" has influenced both filmmaking approaches and social discourse, with its visual metaphors for inequality becoming reference points in discussions of class. The film's success has also opened doors for greater international distribution of Korean and other non-English language cinema, potentially reshaping global film culture toward greater inclusivity and diversity of perspective.
Director Profile: Bong Joon-ho
Bong Joon-ho emerged as one of South Korea's most distinctive filmmakers before achieving global recognition with "Parasite." Born in Daegu, South Korea, in 1969, Bong studied sociology at Yonsei University and filmmaking at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. His background in sociology informs his cinematic approach, which consistently examines social structures and human behavior within various genre frameworks.
Bong's filmography demonstrates his genre fluidity and thematic consistency. His debut feature "Barking Dogs Never Bite" (2000) introduced his black comedy sensibilities and class awareness. "Memories of Murder" (2003), based on Korea's first confirmed serial murders, established his international reputation with its blend of police procedural, social commentary, and unexpected humor. "The Host" (2006) reimagined the monster movie as family drama and critique of American influence and environmental neglect, becoming the highest-grossing Korean film of its time.
His first English-language productions—"Snowpiercer" (2013), a post-apocalyptic class allegory set on a train, and "Okja" (2017), which critiques corporate agriculture through a girl's relationship with a genetically modified super-pig—demonstrated his ability to work with international casts while maintaining his distinct sensibility. Throughout his career, Bong has consistently explored how social systems shape human relationships, often using genre elements to make social critique accessible and entertaining.
"Parasite" represents the culmination of Bong's career-long preoccupations: class disparity, dark humor, sudden tonal shifts, and the intrusion of violence into everyday life. The film's technical virtuosity showcases his mastery of visual storytelling, while its commercial and critical success has elevated him to the global cinematic pantheon. Bong's direction balances meticulous detail with improvisational flexibility; he storyboards extensively but remains open to on-set discoveries.
Throughout his career, Bong has maintained working relationships with certain actors, most notably Song Kang-ho, who has appeared in four of his films. His approach to collaboration extends to his screenwriting, often working with co-writers (including "Parasite" co-writer Han Jin-won) to refine his ideas.
Bong describes himself as "a lover of genre," but his work consistently transcends generic boundaries—"Parasite" begins as a con-artist comedy, shifts to suspenseful thriller, and concludes as a tragic social commentary. This genre fluidity reflects Bong's central insight: that life itself doesn't conform to neat categories, and that meaningful cinema should capture this messy, unpredictable quality of human experience.
Behind the Scenes
Conceptual Origins
The seed for "Parasite" was planted during the production of "Snowpiercer," when Bong began considering a story about economic inequality that would unfold in a more intimate setting than a train. The concept evolved from his personal experience: in his early twenties, Bong briefly worked as a tutor for a wealthy family in Seoul, giving him firsthand exposure to the disparity between social worlds that would later inform the film.
Bong has revealed that the film was also inspired by a 2013 news story from Gyeonggi Province, where a similar bunker dwelling was discovered in the home of a middle-class family. This real-life incident provided the narrative twist that transformed "Parasite" from a straightforward infiltration story into a more complex exploration of class stratification.
The film's title emerged early in development, with Bong attracted to the ambiguity of who the actual "parasites" are in the story. This fundamental question—are the Kims parasites feeding off the Parks, or are the Parks parasites who extract labor from the working class?—drives the film's nuanced approach to class conflict.
Production Design and Set Construction
One of the film's most remarkable technical achievements is its set design. Production designer Lee Ha-jun constructed the Parks' modernist home entirely on soundstages. The house was deliberately designed to be both aspirational and slightly unsettling—a perfect manifestation of wealth that nonetheless harbors mysterious spaces and hidden dangers.
The house was built in sections that could be removed to accommodate different camera angles and movements. The garden level was constructed on one soundstage, while the basement level was built on another. This approach allowed Bong to achieve highly complex camera movements between levels, particularly during the hiding sequence.
The semi-basement apartment of the Kim family was likewise constructed on a set, but designed with meticulous attention to realistic detail. Props master Choi Seong-pil collected items from actual semi-basements to create the lived-in quality of the space. The design team deliberately juxtaposed the aspirational modernism of the Park home with the cramped functionality of the Kim apartment to visualize class differences through habitation.
Perhaps most impressively, the set design incorporated functional plumbing to create the devastating flood sequence, with actual water being pumped into the set. This practical effect required extensive waterproofing and safety preparations but resulted in a viscerally realistic portrayal of the disaster.
Casting and Performance
The film's ensemble cast delivers remarkably nuanced performances that avoid simplistic hero/villain dynamics. Song Kang-ho, a longtime collaborator with Bong, brings tremendous pathos to Ki-taek, capturing both his resourcefulness and the simmering resentment that eventually erupts into violence. Jang Hye-jin as Chung-sook, Choi Woo-shik as Ki-woo, and Park So-dam as Ki-jung complete the Kim family with performances that balance comedy and desperation.
On the Park side, Lee Sun-kyun and Cho Yeo-jeong portray the wealthy couple not as malicious villains but as entitled, oblivious beneficiaries of privilege. Cho's performance as the naive, anxious Yeon-kyo is particularly nuanced, finding humor in her gullibility without reducing her to mere caricature.
Bong's direction of actors emphasizes behavioral detail over dramatic declarations. Many of the film's most revealing moments are non-verbal—facial reactions, body language, and subtle gestures that communicate volumes about class awareness and social positioning. This approach creates remarkably naturalistic performances despite the film's increasingly outlandish narrative developments.
Reception and Legacy
"Parasite" premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it became the first Korean film to win the Palme d'Or, and did so by unanimous jury vote. Its subsequent global theatrical release was an unprecedented success for a Korean-language film, grossing over $258 million worldwide.
The film's journey through awards season culminated in its historic Oscar night, winning four Academy Awards including Best Picture—becoming the first non-English language film to do so in the Academy's 92-year history. This achievement was widely celebrated as a meaningful step toward greater inclusion of international cinema in mainstream American recognition.
Beyond its commercial and critical success, "Parasite" has entered the cultural lexicon, with terms like "Jessica, only child, Illinois, Chicago" becoming memes and the Parks' ramyeon dish "chapaguri" (or "ram-don" in the English subtitles) experiencing a surge in global popularity.
The film's lasting impact may be its demonstration that artistically uncompromising international cinema can achieve mainstream commercial success when given proper distribution and promotion. HBO announced a limited series expansion of the "Parasite" universe, with Bong executive producing alongside Adam McKay, suggesting the film's cultural influence will continue to evolve in new forms.
Share Your Thoughts
What did you think of "Parasite" and its exploration of class disparity? Did you find yourself sympathizing more with the Kim family or the Park family? How did the film's portrayal of social inequality resonate with conditions in your own country? Share your thoughts in the comments below or join the conversation on our social media channels.