22nd March 2019

From the initial set-up, we think we’re aware of the story being told to us but Bong Joon-ho’s latest becomes a horror film.

Warning: This contains spoilers for Parasite. If you haven't seen the film now, please go watch it immediately, and then return here.

By now, you must be aware of Bong Joon-ho's Parasite. From the initial set-up, we think we're aware of the story being told to us. A family on the lower rungs of society, struggling to even buy food, must resort to deception in order to position themselves within a rich family’s employment. We appear to be watching the family performing their own heist, with sprinklings of comedy to liven the mood, and we feel at ease watching the story unfold.

But then the doorbell rings. As the original housekeeper returns, intent on sorting out unfinished business which lies behind a door, hidden behind the pantry. As the camera follows her descent, audiences are then unaware of what awaits at the bottom of the stairs, or what it means for the remainder of the story. But from this tense moment, Bong Joon-Ho's latest becomes a horror film.

The Kim's trickery is a symptom of their struggle just to get by, where the most low-paid of jobs have their pay cut even further, and unexpected gifts are received with comments of how food would've been preferable. When the opportunity for a better life presents itself, the family puts their all in trying to grasp it, and their efforts are rewarded with an opportunity to revel in an idealized version of their lives. But like the Freeling family from Poltergeist, the Kim's discover there's something hidden lurking beneath, which disrupts their lives, and threatens any hopes of living in their ideal home.

Or are the real victims the Park family? Like the Thorn's in The Omen, they are a family who are financially well off, and just wanted to hire some people to help make their lives run more smoothly. But unbeknownst to them, those who've been hired aren't who they pass themselves off as, and by the eventual realisation, all that's left is the fallout. The family let these people into their lives, entrusted them and their work, while never realising how they were being manipulated, until it was too late.

But what about those living underneath? They're not hiding underneath to cause any malice, but because that's the only safe option the housekeeper's husband has. Geun-sae must forego everyday matters such as sunlight and fresh air, because a threat to his life means he must be isolated for his own safety with only his wife aware of the situation. Like some spirits, they just want to be left in peace, but it sadly doesn't stay that way.

Over the course of one night, everything changes for the worse, resulting in the death of Geun-sae's wife, Moon-gwang. Faced with the invasion of his safe space, and the loss of his one tether to the outside world, Guen-sae calls for help to the only person who can actually understand his morse-code messages, but to no avail. Thus, he ascends the stairs as something else entirely. No longer a hungry man who scavenges to survive, he emerges as a bloodied spectre of vengeance, wreaking havoc on those responsible for his sorrow.

But most horrific of all, is how the Kim's likely won't escape their prison of poverty. From the gift of a rock that's so metaphorical, the promise of a better life lingered in the family’s actions. It even clings to the Kim's son, Ki-Woo, influencing his acts to the point he descends down the stairs, intent on silencing those who upset his plans. But much like the gifted rock, the promises and plans are ultimately hollow, and in trying to play the rich at their own game, the Kims are left in worse positions than when they began. As much as Ki-Woo plans to see his father again, the once spoken words ring ever true; "If you make a plan, life never works out that way", and isn't such a saddening idea truly terrifying?

By James Rodrigues