Parasite (2019)

A poor family, the Kims, con their way into becoming the servants of a rich family, the Parks. But their easy life gets complicated when their deception is threatened with exposure.

Director:

Bong Joon Ho

Writers:

Bong Joon Ho (story), Bong Joon Ho (screenplay)

Stars:

Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Jo

Top Rated Movies #22 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 203 wins & 182 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kang-ho Song	...	Kim Ki-taek (as Song Kang Ho)
Sun-kyun Lee	...	Park Dong-ik (as Lee Sun Kyun)
Yeo-jeong Jo	...	Park Yeon-kyo (as Cho Yeo Jeong)
Woo-sik Choi	...	Kim Ki-woo (as Choi Woo Shik)
So-dam Park	...	Kim Ki-jung (as Park So Dam)
Jeong-eun Lee	...	Moon-gwang (as Lee Jung Eun)
Hye-jin Jang	...	Kim Chung-sook (as Chang Hyae Jin)
Ji-hye Lee	...	Singer
Ji-so Jung	...	Park Da-hye (as Jung Ziso)
Myeong-hoon Park	...	Geun-se
Seo-joon Park	...	Min
Keun-rok Park	...	Yoon
Seong-Bong Ahn	...	Man Provoking Quarrel
Kang Echae	...	Special Guest
Jeong Esuz	...	CEO of Pizza Place

Storyline

Jobless, penniless, and, above all, hopeless, the unmotivated patriarch, Ki-taek, and his equally unambitious family--his supportive wife, Chung-sook; his cynical twentysomething daughter, Ki-jung, and his college-age son, Ki-woo--occupy themselves by working for peanuts in their squalid basement-level apartment. Then, by sheer luck, a lucrative business proposition will pave the way for an ingeniously insidious scheme, as Ki-woo summons up the courage to pose as an English tutor for the teenage daughter of the affluent Park family. Now, the stage seems set for an unceasing winner-take-all class war. How does one get rid of a parasite?

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Plot Keywords:

murder | fraud | house | tutor | wealth | 

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Taglines:

Act like you own the place (USA)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Curzon Artificial Eye [United Kingdom] Les Bookmakers [France]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean English

Release Date:

8 November 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Parasite

Filming Locations:

Goyang Aqua Studio - 250 Tongil-ro 396beon-gil, Deogyang-gu, Goyang, South Korea

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$393,216, 13 October 2019

Gross USA:

$49,087,019

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$209,596,156

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barunson E&A, CJ E&M Film Financing & Investment Entertainment & Comics, CJ Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The house was designed by an architect by the name of Namgoong. This might be a reference to the movie Snowpiercer (2013) where lead actor Kang-ho Song was portraying a character by that name.

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Goofs

They get out with their phones in pocket and go to their home completely drenched in rain and then into almost neck deep water, yet their phones keep working the next morning just fine as they all receive call from the rich family.

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Quotes

Kim Ki-jung: [about Moon-gwang] She may look like a sheep, but inside, she's a fox. Sometimes she acts like she owns the house.
Kim Ki-woo: Right. Of all the people in that house, she's lived there the longest. She was housekeeper to the architect Namgoong, but then she went on to work for this family. When the architect moved out, he introduced this woman to Park's family, telling them, "This is a great housekeeper, you should hire her".
Chung-sook, Ki-taek's wife: So she survived a change of ownership.
Kim Ki-woo: She won't give up such a good job easily.
Kim Ki-jung: ...
[...]

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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.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Performances the 2020 Oscars Didn't Recognize (2020)

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Soundtracks

Rodelinda: Act 2 - Spietati, io vi glurai
Written by George Frideric Handel
Universal Music

User Reviews

An original dark comedy about class struggles

This is a well written and well perfomed original film. With a lot of repetitive cinema these day i felt this was something new. I felt connected and engaged with the character throughout the film. There are several well directed tense moments throughout the film. A popular topic of class struggled well portrayed. Its always nice to see foreign language films having worldwide success.