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IMDbPro

Parasite

Original title: Gisaengchung
  • 20192019
  • 1515
  • 2h 12m
IMDb RATING
8.5/10
728K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
165
17
Gisaengchung (2019)
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
Play trailer2:03
17 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyDramaThriller

Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.

IMDb RATING
8.5/10
728K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
165
17
  • Director
    • Bong Joon Ho
  • Writers
    • Bong Joon Ho(story by)
    • Han Jin-won(screenplay by)
  • Stars
    • Kang-ho Song
    • Sun-kyun Lee
    • Yeo-jeong Cho
Top credits
  • Director
    • Bong Joon Ho
  • Writers
    • Bong Joon Ho(story by)
    • Han Jin-won(screenplay by)
  • Stars
    • Kang-ho Song
    • Sun-kyun Lee
    • Yeo-jeong Cho
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 3.4KUser reviews
    • 600Critic reviews
    • 96Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #35
    • Won 4 Oscars
      • 308 wins & 271 nominations total

    Videos17

    Trailer 2
    Trailer 2:03
    Trailer 2
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:17
    Official Trailer
    Teaser Trailer
    Trailer 1:18
    Teaser Trailer
    Parasite
    Trailer 1:03
    Parasite
    Parasite
    Trailer 2:17
    Parasite
    Bong Joon Ho Makes Oscars History
    Clip 3:24
    Bong Joon Ho Makes Oscars History
    Bong Joon Ho's "Parasite" HBO Series Will Be a 'Six-Hour Film'
    Clip 0:41
    Bong Joon Ho's "Parasite" HBO Series Will Be a 'Six-Hour Film'
    Indie Spirit Stars Suggest Indie Gems You Must Watch Right Now
    Clip 2:49
    Indie Spirit Stars Suggest Indie Gems You Must Watch Right Now
    What BAFTA, SAG, & DGA Wins Predict for the 2020 Oscars
    Clip 4:30
    What BAFTA, SAG, & DGA Wins Predict for the 2020 Oscars
    Oscars 2020 Snubs, Surprises, & Historic Firsts
    Clip 4:15
    Oscars 2020 Snubs, Surprises, & Historic Firsts
    Bong Joon-Ho – Making the Film You Want
    Clip 1:44
    Bong Joon-Ho – Making the Film You Want
    Bong Joon-Ho Reveals Where He Got the Idea for 'Parasite'
    Clip 5:14
    Bong Joon-Ho Reveals Where He Got the Idea for 'Parasite'

    Photos242

    Bong Joon Ho at an event for Gisaengchung (2019)
    Bong Joon Ho at an event for Gisaengchung (2019)
    Bong Joon Ho at an event for Gisaengchung (2019)
    Bong Joon Ho and Kwak Sin-ae at an event for The Oscars (2020)
    Bong Joon Ho at an event for The Oscars (2020)
    Bong Joon Ho and Kwak Sin-ae at an event for The Oscars (2020)
    Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin-won at an event for The Oscars (2020)
    Bong Joon Ho at an event for The Oscars (2020)
    Bong Joon Ho and Kwak Sin-ae at an event for The Oscars (2020)
    Bong Joon Ho, Kwak Sin-ae, Yeo-jeong Cho, Choi Woo-sik, and So-dam Park at an event for The Oscars (2020)
    Spike Lee and Bong Joon Ho at an event for The Oscars (2020)
    Bong Joon Ho, Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Cho, Yang-kwon Moon, Lee Ha-jun, So-dam Park, and Han Jin-won at an event for The Oscars (2020)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kang-ho Song
    Kang-ho Song
    • Ki Taekas Ki Taek
    Sun-kyun Lee
    Sun-kyun Lee
    • Dong Ikas Dong Ik
    Yeo-jeong Cho
    Yeo-jeong Cho
    • Yeon Kyoas Yeon Kyo
    Choi Woo-sik
    Choi Woo-sik
    • Ki Wooas Ki Woo
    So-dam Park
    So-dam Park
    • Ki Jungas Ki Jung
    • (as Park So Dam)
    Lee Jeong-eun
    Lee Jeong-eun
    • Moon Gwangas Moon Gwang
    • (as Lee Jung Eun)
    Jang Hye-jin
    Jang Hye-jin
    • Chung Sookas Chung Sook
    • (as Chang Hyae Jin)
    Park Myeong-hoon
    Park Myeong-hoon
    • Geun Seas Geun Se
    • (as Park Myeong Hoon)
    Ji-so Jung
    Ji-so Jung
    • Da Hyeas Da Hye
    • (as Jung Ziso)
    Hyun-jun Jung
    Hyun-jun Jung
    • Da Songas Da Song
    • (as Jung Hyeon Jun)
    Keun-rok Park
    Keun-rok Park
    • Driver Yoonas Driver Yoon
    • (as Park Keun Rok)
    Yi-Seo Jung
    • CEO of Pizza Placeas CEO of Pizza Place
    • (as Jeung Esuh)
    Jae-myeong Jo
    • CEO's Brother of Pizza Placeas CEO's Brother of Pizza Place
    Ik-han Jung
    Ik-han Jung
    • Neighboras Neighbor
    • (as Jung Ik Han)
    Kyu-baek Kim
    • Drunk Person 1as Drunk Person 1
    Hwang In Kyung
    • Internet Cafe Staffas Internet Cafe Staff
    Ahn Seong-Bong
    • Street Fighting Person 1as Street Fighting Person 1
    • (as Ahn Seong Bong)
    Kim Jin Hyung
    • Street Fighting Person 2as Street Fighting Person 2
    • Director
      • Bong Joon Ho
    • Writers
      • Bong Joon Ho(story by) (screenplay by)
      • Han Jin-won(screenplay by)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit
    The Kims - mother and father Chung-sook and Ki-taek, and their young adult offspring, son Ki-woo and daughter Ki-jung - are a poor family living in a shabby and cramped half basement apartment in a busy lower working class commercial district of Seoul. Without even knowing it, they, especially Mr. and Mrs. Kim, literally smell of poverty. Often as a collective, they perpetrate minor scams to get by, and even when they have jobs, they do the minimum work required. Ki-woo is the one who has dreams of getting out of poverty by one day going to university. Despite not having that university education, Ki-woo is chosen by his university student friend Min, who is leaving to go to school, to take over his tutoring job to Park Da-hye, who Min plans to date once he returns to Seoul and she herself is in university. The Parks are a wealthy family who for four years have lived in their modernistic house designed by and the former residence of famed architect Namgoong. While Mr. and Mrs. Park are all about status, Mrs. Park has a flighty, simpleminded mentality and temperament, which Min tells Ki-woo to feel comfortable in lying to her about his education to get the job. In getting the job, Ki-woo further learns that Mrs. Park is looking for an art therapist for the Parks' adolescent son, Da-song, Ki-woo quickly recommending his professional art therapist friend "Jessica", really Ki-jung who he knows can pull off the scam in being the easiest liar of the four Kims. In Ki-woo also falling for Da-hye, he begins to envision himself in that house, and thus the Kims as a collective start a plan for all the Kims, like Ki-jung using assumed names, to replace existing servants in the Parks' employ in orchestrating reasons for them to be fired. The most difficult to get rid of may be Moon-gwang, the Parks' housekeeper who literally came with the house - she Namgoong's housekeeper when he lived there - and thus knows all the little nooks and crannies of it better than the Parks themselves. The question then becomes how far the Kims can take this scam in their quest to become their version of the Parks. —Huggo
    class differencessocial satirefraudscamhouse301 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Misplaced familyhood (Australia/New Zealand/Singapore)
    • Genres
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Thriller
    • Certificate
      • 15
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The Parks' house, said in the film to be designed by a fictional architect named Namgoong Hyeonja, was a set completely built from scratch.
    • Goofs
      (at around 1h 30 mins) When the Kims are sneaking out of the house while the Parks are sleeping on the couch, the Kim's are barefoot. When seen running home they somehow now have their shoes. If they had left their shoes at the entrance the Parks would likely have noticed them. It would be more likely they would have left them in the garage.
    • Quotes

      Ki-taek: [to his son] You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan. No plan at all. You know why? Because life cannot be planned. Look around you. Did you think these people made a plan to sleep in the sports hall with you? But here we are now, sleeping together on the floor. So, there's no need for a plan. You can't go wrong with no plans. We don't need to make a plan for anything. It doesn't matter what will happen next. Even if the country gets destroyed or sold out, nobody cares. Got it?

    • Alternate versions
      Also available in a black-and-white version. Instead of opting for a simple digital bleaching, Bong Joon Ho worked with a colorist and cinematographer to make sure each scene retained its texture.
    • Connections
      Featured in Amanda the Jedi Show: 'Faster than your First Time' Reviews (Joker, Jojo Rabbit, Lucy in the Sky and everything else) (2019)
    • Soundtracks
      Rodelinda: Act 2 - Spietati, io vi giurai
      Written by George Frideric Handel

      Universal Music

    User reviews3.4K

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Totally Unique
    Usually I don't read reviews before seeing a film. This one, however, I did, and happily so. First of all, it was good to know what cinema in Korea is all about. We need to shed our cultural biases, including "how" to make films. This had a very clever plot and an engaging group of characters. The title, I assume, means the principle figures have managed to infest a body and then use it to sustain themselves. I hope to see more from this director in the future.
    helpful•28
    12
    • Hitchcoc
    • Aug 7, 2020

    FAQ13

    • Why weren't there any cameras inside Mr. Park's house?
    • Why did the Kim family use English names for themselves when working for the Parks?
    • How is Parasite a comedy? Apart from a couple of lines by the Mrs. Kim, I didn't find anything comedic.

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 7, 2020 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • South Korea
    • Official sites
      • Curzon Artificial Eye (United Kingdom)
      • Les Bookmakers (France)
    • Languages
      • Korean
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Parasite: Black & White Edition
    • Filming locations
      • Jahamun-ro, Buam-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    • Production companies
      • CJ Entertainment
      • Barunson E&A
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $11,400,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $53,369,749
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $393,216
      • Oct 13, 2019
    • Gross worldwide
      • $263,020,130
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 12 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Atmos
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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