‘Parasite’ is a Perfect Shock to the System

Legit my reaction during the back-half of the film.

FYI: This is a spoiler-free review. (That’s hard to do for this film, so forgive my vagueness here.)

I’m late to this party, but to be fair, I hadn’t heard much at all about writer/director Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite until the past month. Then I saw it pop up on everyone’s year-end Best lists — and even a few decade-end Best lists — and that’s something I can’t ignore.

Fortunately, that also means that I walked into the theater to see this under my favorite circumstances: Knowing absolutely zilch about this movie.

The Kim family is in the dumps, almost quite literally. Both parents are out of jobs, and their 4-person clan lives in a semi-basement unit that gives them a rat’s eye view of passersby and wandering drunkards who think their corner of the street was made for a late-night whiz. They scour for free food and resources at every opportunity. The son, Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi), is presented with an opportunity to be an English tutor for the daughter of a local wealthy family, the Parks. He earns it by farce — his sister (who, as a rule, gives less than zero…