There have been a sparse few films in recent years that have melded genres seamlessly, performed at the absolute top of their game in technical craft, offered a scathing sociopolitical commentary, all while telling an airtight and compelling story. Luckily for us, Parasite (Gisaengchung) checks all of these boxes, in a year where we couldn't have needed it more badly. Bong Joon-ho's latest absolutely blows all else out of the water (at least compared to the other 30+ movies I've seen in theaters this year), and in a highly organic and original way. The issue of class and the struggles of the poor climbing the ladder to become wealthy is one that Bong Joon-ho is well-known for using, for instance in 2013's Snowpiercer, yet Parasite never at any point feels like it borrows from any of its predecessors or overlaps with them in any way. This is the film's greatest strength, in my opinion, that it so flawlessly weaves together all of its components, including an interesting and nuanced take on class-structure, originally and in such a way that it feels perfectly natural for the story being told. The same can be said for how Bong traverses from one genre to another. From minute to minute, Parasite will have you laughing uproariously, and then suddenly, have you dead-silent and on the edge of your seat. The comedy is dark and laugh-out-loud, while the suspense will make you want to lean in, if only to try and pull the characters out of the scene, so as to relieve the tension. It should be no surprise, that everything else also falls into place wonderfully, from the poignant performances, to the razor sharp editing, to the stunning cinematography. In a year with both high-budget and indie takes on class-struggle such as Joker and Us, Parasite still manages to stand out, in a class of its own.
