Parasite review
8.9 / 10 — CineScope score
Overview
A struggling family talks its way into the employ of a wealthy household, one fake qualification at a time. The arrangement works beautifully until it does not.
The short verdict
A perfectly engineered class thriller that changes genre twice and never drops a stitch.
Story
Structured like a heist, then a farce, then a horror film. Each transition is earned by information the audience has and one character does not.
Direction
Bong Joon-ho's control of space is total: vertical lines, staircases and rain are all being used to say something about who lives above whom.
Performance
Song Kang-ho anchors the family with worn dignity, and Cho Yeo-jeong turns obliviousness into a comic instrument.
Cinematography
Hong Kyung-pyo shoots the wealthy house as a modernist maze — open, glassy and still a trap.
Music
Jung Jae-il's score moves from jaunty piano to ritual percussion exactly when the film turns.
Pros and cons
What works
- A script with no dead weight
- Tonal shifts that land
- A satire with real teeth
What does not
- The pivotal reveal will divide some viewers
- Few characters outside the two families register
Final verdict
A modern classic, and the rare film about class that is also genuinely, uncomfortably funny.
8.9/ 10