Parasite: A Dark, Delirious Meditation on Late Capitalism
Parasite is an incredible, delirious film, one of the year’s best. It follows the misdeeds of Ki-woo Park (Woo-sik Choi) and his despondent family, whose only source of income is to fold pizza boxes for a delivery service. They’re living just at the poverty line, so lacking in everyday necessities that they have to mooch wi-fi from their neighbors (a new café) and consider a fumigator on the streets free fumigation for their pest ridden apartment. Their luck changes when Ki-woo’s friend Min, who is leaving to go study abroad, offers him a job as an English tutor for the daughter of a wealthy family (the Parks). The daughter is a romantic interest for the friend; hence he asks Min to prevent other boys from “slavering” all over her.
As it turns out, Ki-woo’s sister Ki-jeong (So-dam Park) has some mad photoshop skills and forges some documents for Min attesting to his ability to teach English. The mom, played by a standout Cho Yeo-jeong, is initially presented as, if not “simple,” as Min derisively described, then at the very least eccentric. She keeps singing Min’s praises and alluding…
