What it’s about
The Kims live in a squalid basement apartment in Seoul, struggling to make ends meet in dead-end jobs. Then son (Choi) gets a job with the wealthy Park family, tutoring their teenage daughter in their architecturally dazzling house. Soon, the other Kim family members infiltrate the Parks’ home, all hired as staff. But a hidden secret in the house threatens to upend the Parks’ cushy life, and the Kims’ devious scheme.
Why we love it
The first South Korean film to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and that country’s highest grossing film ever, director Bong’s seventh film is a masterpiece of tone, blending comedy, satire, horror and social commentary. Bong’s uniformly excellent cast masters a tightrope of shifting moods and genre subversions. The richness and intelligence of this scabrous thriller demand repeat viewings. “Parasite” won four Academy Awards, including a historic first: a Best Picture Oscar for a non-English language movie.