A much sterner test of whether or not I am going to like a film than the word of mouth from film aficionados on Reddit or when it is "certified rotten" is how quickly it goes to 40% off at Barnes and Noble. This did so pretty quickly my, against my better judgment I decided to use up my gift card proceeds on this turkey. (Mainly because it is more and more difficult to find a Barnes & Noble that sells DVD's.) This had the potential to have been a very pleasant diversion, reminiscent of the American screwball comedies of the 30's and 40's, when it decided to go over the top and embrace every genre but comedy (and Westerns.) The film concerns two Korean families, the haves and the have-nots The haves are composed of computer exec dad and his faux sophisticated wife and their two children, the teenage daughter, studying English to achieve success on college entrance exams and a junior whiz-kid artist whose works are obviously normal scribbling. In the course of her studies the daughter has the services of a college student who has decided to take a sabbatical and recommends his friend, a non-college educated but English fluent son of the have-nots as his replacement. The son quickly sizes up his new employers and sees room on the job for sis as a art therapy expert who would be just the person to expose junior's genius to the world. Eventually the entire have-not family become "parasites" feeding from the prosperous haves. All vestiges of any comedy then disappear and philosophy seems to take its place. It is not a welcome change. Watch it at your own risk considering the source of all enthusiastic comments that might tend to sway you.
Review of Parasite
