Satire, thriller, comedy all in one: ‘Parasite’ reviewed

Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite won the Bafta for best foreign film and is up for six Oscars and it is an involving drama. And satire. And thriller. And comedy. And allegory. And it is fabulous and enthralling on all those counts. It works on every level which is, perhaps, fitting for a film about levels and whether you are at the top or bottom in life. Essentially, it’s the story of a low-status family who gaslight a high-status family so it’s Crazy Rich Asians but Crazy Poor Asians too. Plus, it features the grimmest child’s birthday party ever. It is also a horror flick, I forgot to say.

It’s set in South Korea where we are introduced to the Kim family who are poor and scuttle around their slum basement apartment while leeching their wifi from the business upstairs and trying to do as little work as is possible to get by.