You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan. No plan at all. You know why? Because life cannot be planned.
- Kim Ki-Taek, Parasite (2019)

It was early morning in 2017, right before sunrise. I remember the air being more muggy than usual in the hot, humid summers of Korea. But that didn’t stop Uncle Sam and I from taking our morning hike. As we trotted down the steep steps, I felt the dirt creep into my shoes. We eventually got to the bottom of the steps.

Uncle Sam stopped and asked me, “Sarah, you know what differs me from your Dad?”

Confused, I immediately looked at the tree adjacent to me. I looked back at him and said, “What?”

He replied, “Unlike your Dad, I like to plan things out. I’ll make a Plan A. If Plan A doesn’t work out, I’ll have a Plan B. Then a Plan C. That is what makes me different”.

My eyes rolled down to my shoes, and I noticed the dirt had covered the net of my shoes. I stomped it out, and replied “Okay”.

Thoroughly built with dark humor, Parasite hit all of its marks, from comedy to class struggle commentary to actual terror. Directed by Bong Joon Ho, this masterpiece crushed my soul and had me leaving the theater in tears. The film explained all of my Mom’s wisdom about struggles that I couldn’t pointedly understand before. It’s beyond a satirical, dark humor thriller that depicts a desperate family as some manipulating, blood sucking freeloaders. It beautifully, yet tragically showcased the concept of truly surviving versus living.

Parasite is undeniably and patently one of my favorite films of all time. Every scene is so potent— from the production design, to the props you see in the blurred background, to the tone and facial expressions of the award winning cast ensemble. This film is absolutely captivating with every bit of composition. I watched the movie the first week of November, and till this day, 4 months later, I’m still analyzing it. After watching countless interviews of Bong Joon Ho (with his amazing translator, Sharon Choi) to interpret and dissect the meaning of each scene in the movie, I’ve learned that this man is an absolute genius at story telling. He did an exceptional job directing his craft.

I want to unload and share some of my favorite scenes and my analyses. Additionally, I want to explain why this movie hits home for me personally (if you want to skip my analysis, and get straight to this point, click here). If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I really encourage you to see it before reading my spoiler ridden review. You can easily stream it online for free. It’s quite easy to find.

I had a hard time remembering the names in this movie. So as reference:
Kim Family = Poor Family, consists of Mr. Kim, Mrs. Kim, Kevin, and Jessica
Park Family = Rich Family, consists of Mr. Park, Mrs. Park, daughter and son
Basement Couple = Initial Housemaid and Creepy Eyed Husband, consists of Moon-Gwang and Geun-Se, respectively

First, the movie poster.

If you look closely, you’ll see that Kim Ki-Taek (Mr. Kim, dad of poor family) and Kim Ji-Woo (Kevin, son of poor family) are blindfolded in black while Park Dong-Ik (Mrs. Park, mom of the rich family) and Park Yeon-Kyo (Mr. Park, dad of the rich family) are blindfolded by white. Simply put, the black symbolizes darkness and the white symbolizes the sunlight. The Kim family live in a semi-basement. They get some light into their home through a rather small window. Sure, they don’t have perfect WiFi, but they still manage to communicate to that part of the world if they elevate their phones at a certain angle within their musty bathroom. In contrast, the Parks have a wide floor-to-ceiling window and have access to WiFi anywhere, anytime. The basement couple, Moon-Gwang (initial housekeeper) and Geun-se (housekeeper’s husband, aka creepy eyes) are not even shown in the poster because they are invisible to the world— they are shunned from society because they are the poorest of the poor.

It’s clear that the Kims are stuck in the growing chasm between the the richest and the poorest, as symbolized by their limited WiFi and small window. Despite that, they still have their fair share of accomplishments. The mom is strong and powerful, as noted by her sports metal. The kids are smart, as the daughter, Jessica, is artistic and the son, Kevin, is bright, just not vigorous enough to get accepted into a University. The Dad, despite being the 1 in 4 rejected pizza box (if you caught this reference), is still accomplished to some minimal degree as a father.

Further opposition to the Kim family is the basement couple, particularly Geun-se (creepy basement husband). Geun-se is so invisible to the world that in one shot of the film, it is revealed that that he is incapable of ever being a father, as visualized through the opened condom wrappers. Additionally, Geun-se does not have WiFi— further exemplifying that his status completely disables him from ever communicating to that part of the world. He’s left to use Morse Code instead. There is no slither of sunlight for this character. No window. Just complete darkness.

It’s a dog eat dog world.

The class war amongst the have-nots is quite evident throughout the film. Bong Joon Ho is known for making films about structural inequity, and I believe this was the most daring film from Bong to exemplify that.

Growing up in a middle class neighborhood, I’ve seen folks around me lack human decency in subconscious or obvious ways to those who they deem lower than middle class. It happens everywhere, and we may even partake in it subconsciously. What I just said may sound distasteful, but I think it sounds distasteful because there is some brutal truth to it. Bluntly speaking, in a capitalist society, people want more. People want more money. The poor want to become rich. The rich want to become richer. People want to rise up on the ladder, and in order to do, the dog will eat the dog. However, for the have-nots, it’s a bit harder do that because there aren’t much assets to gamble with. There is no Plan B when Plan A fails. So what is the alternative? To further divide the have-nots in a way that distinguishes themselves, at minimum, one level higher than the other. In order words, the have-nots find ways to “one-up” themselves from other have-nots, as a way to distinguish this “higher” class they perceive themselves to be in. Often, this is done so by lacking human decency towards with one another. Sometimes it’s very minor and subconscious— so subconscious that we may very well take part in it. Sometimes, it’s not minor but just blatantly derogatory that it’s nearly humorous.

Anyways, in Parasite, this is ever so clear and symbolized in the Ram-Don— the ramen, udon, and steak mixture.

Fun Fact: Koreans don’t call this dish Ram-Don, and steak isn’t usually added. Koreans call this mixture Chapagoori (Brand name, Chapaghetti mixed with Neoguri) but for the sake of the movie, it’s just easier to translate it to such. Both are Korean brands— Chpaghetti is a type of instant ramen and Neoguri is a type of instant udon.

The Ram-Don in this film is comprised of 3 ingredients: instant ramen, instant udon, and sirloin steak. The instant ramen and udon (cheap ingredients) represents the Kim family and basement couple mixing and fighting together to fit in with the the Park family, represented by the sirloin steak (expensive ingredient).

There are many instances where the lack of human decency is showcased in this ecosystem of these 3 families and even beyond this trio. Between the Kim family and basement couple, they could have worked together to further their symbiotic relationship with the Park family. However, a dogfight unleashes a tornado of chaos, and the concept of solidarity is unimaginable. I truly think the daughter of the Kim family, Jessica, had potential to manipulate her way up towards this class. She had the fitting mentality to succeed up the social ladder. This potential was shown when the Kims get comfortably drunk in the spacious living room of the Park’s. Mr. Kim and Kevin worry about Mr. Park’s original driver after getting him fired. Jessica snaps them out of it and tells them that it doesn’t matter how that driver is doing. They have to do what’s best for themselves, and it’s as simple as that. She had the mentality of being cut throat, like that of the Park’s.

She snidely fit in well with the upper-class, so much so her brother mentioned that she looked so natural when she took a bath in the Park’s tub. If you noticed, Mrs. Park only invited Jessica to the birthday party because she fit in as one of “them”. The parents worked overtime at the party, and Kevin (son of the poor family) was invited by the Park’s daughter only after hearing that Jessica was invited. Due to the lack of solidarity between the Kims and the basement couple, the one character that had potential to rise up this ladder was killed off.

In addition, the way the pizza worker spoke to Mrs. Kim (mother of poor family) in informal Korean dialect is yet another example outside of the 3 tier ecosystem. For Koreans, there are two dialects you can speak: formal and informal. You speak formal to those who are older than you or to those who you are not that close with. In the scene, the younger pizza worker speaks in an informal dialect to Mrs. Kim in a rather rude manner, lacking that human decency and lack of solidarity between the similar classes.
Funnily enough, you see the same pizza employees in the gym when the city gets flooded, seen below. They are all, after all, in the same social class.

Actor Song Kang-ho

My God. Song Kang-Ho is so incredible at acting as Mr. Kim / Kim Ki-Taek (father of the poor family).

His facial expressions to convey his character’s emotion intertwined with the audiences’ emotions were done immaculately. I felt so much frustration and sadness for Mr. Kim, but felt relieved that I could relate these emotions to the expressions displayed by actor Song Kang-Ho.

In particular, these expressions come about when the Parks talks about that smell. That smell on the subway. That smell of a boiled rag. That smell, that isn’t coming from Mrs. Park’s feet resting on the car seat, but that smell that she cues her eyes on, Mr. Kim, after a brutal downpour that flooded his home the night before.

The scene where the Kims are hiding underneath the table as the Parks get cozy on the couch— how the Dad has to hide beside his kids while being backhandedly ridiculed about his smell. I don’t have words for the emotions I felt— just utterly at loss for words— but the way the Song Kang-Ho was able justify those feelings through his acting is just phenomenal.

Then the ending scene where Mr. Park squeezes his nose in disgust when he reaches for his keys under Geun-Se (creepy basement husband); reminding Mr. Kim that the upper-class views all people below them as equally poor. Mr. Kim is no different to Geun-Se in the eyes of Mr. Park. They both have that smell.

Everyone is a parasite

The fascinating thing about this film is that there really isn’t a good or bad family. You don’t side with either family. You feel bad for the Kims. They’re so manipulative, but you feel for them and you want to see them make it out. And the Parks aren’t malicious people. They’re one hell of an ignorant family, but you can’t say they are malicious. It’s a feeling I can’t explain, but something we can all agree on.

I do think that every character in the film is a parasite, including the Parks. Although it is less obvious than the Kim family and the basement couple, the Park family are parasites to the poor because they are dysfunctional without the labors of the poor. They need a housekeeper, a tutor, a driver, and an art therapist. Sure, these are luxuries they can afford, but these conveniences are contrasted by Mrs. Park’s lack of skills. We are reminded that Mrs. Park can’t complete any of these tasks even if she tried (in which she did try after firing the housemaid but failed). Bong Joon Ho mentioned during an interview that the character, Mr. Park, regrets marrying Mrs. Park; their marriage was out of a premarital pregnancy. With this in mind, it can easily be inferred that Mrs. Park fails both as a wife and mother, and that implication is articulately shown in the film:

You see Mrs. Park constantly hugging and holding her 3 pet dogs, but you don’t see any skinship between her and the kids. She fails to provide that emotional support for them. However, the skinship is provided by the people who work for the Parks— the initial housekeeper provides that skinship for the Park’s energetic son. Likewise, Jessica, the daughter of the Kim family, provides that skinship to that same son by having him sit on her lap during their art therapy sessions.

This lack of skinship and emotional support has a clear effect on the kids. The Park’s son has trauma from seeing the creepy basement man, but Mrs. Park has no idea and naively believes that her son is a prodigy-in-the-making self artist instead. The daughter constantly seeks out physical attention from her tutors (Min and Kevin). The daughter is a parasite to her tutors, seeking that physical and emotional attention that she lacks from her immediate family.

You simply can’t plan life

Mr. Kim lays next to his kids in the gym after their neighborhood floods with sewage water. He closes his eyes and explains 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?

These lines sum up the entire movie. It were these lines that left me tears.

The lives of the vulnerable people— the working class, the middle class, the poor, whatever you want to label it— are always one slip away from falling into utter tragedy and depression. Life is either on thin ice or to varying degrees, at risk. With what appears to be precarious stability, one misstep has the power and severity to plummet the individuals of this class. Whether that be going bankrupt, losing a job, or having to find ways to afford a medical emergency, this precarious and temporary stability can quickly be severed by such simple extremities, plunging the lives of these individuals to wreak havoc, and as the mother of the Kim family stated, scatter around like desperate cockroaches looking for solutions. Such effects of these risks are not easy to alleviate. There’s no Plan B.

This isn’t to say that you should never plan. No. You should always have a plan. That is a fundamental step to take when you make any decision. Think it out. Plan it out. But at the same time, life is unpredictable. You can plan and calculate situations, but you can’t plan life. Plans simply don’t always go as planned. Plans are just ideas in the head.

During my 2nd year of college, my parents made a hard decision to start the end of their business. This financial decision wasn’t easy, and it created a lot of tension between my parents. There were many fights, tears and countless sleepless nights. I saw my parents age and ripen so quickly during these years.

This was the first time I was dealing with the realities of life as an adult. I felt frustrated because I understood what was going on in terms of the severity, but I still couldn’t fully comprehend this hardship. It was like being able to read—understanding what each word and sentence meant, but not understanding the story.

I questioned my parents a lot. And this curiosity eventually lead to resentment— Why couldn’t my parents have planned smarter? Just how did all of this happen? Why didn’t they just plan? How could they be this dumb?

These thoughts eventually trickled out of my mouth. During these heightened moments, I decided to ask, or should I say tell, my mom candidly. I said, “I don’t get it. Why didn’t you and Dad just plan a little better so we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

It wasn’t really a question, but a statement I muttered so brutally.

I remember my Mom’s face vividly after I finished “asking”. I immediately shifted my eyes away from her eyes. I saw the hurt in her eyes.

Looking back at it, I wish I didn’t ask that. I was so incredibly ignorant.

Only someone ignorant would ask something like that. Likewise, only someone ignorant would tell you that you just need a Plan B and Plan C if Plan A fails. There’s a lot of privilege, luck, and ignorance in that advice..there are a lot of conditions to be met to even consider a Plan B and Plan C.

When the Parks plan to celebrate their son’s birthday by going on a camping trip, their Plan A fails as there is a downpour of rain. However, they have a Plan B which is to re-plan the birthday party at home the next day. They are able to execute Plan B because they have money to do so and the next day just happened to not rain. However, even for them, their Plan B didn’t go as planned; there was a massacre that day. But it’s okay because Mrs. Park, the now widowed mother, has a Plan C. She moves out with her kids to another home.

In contrast, the character of Mr. Kim is that he did once own a bakery, but it didn’t go as planned. Surely, if Mr. Kim could have successfully executed a Plan B or Plan C to alleviate the effects of failed Plan A, he would have. He’s not dumb or lazy. He works vigorously with any job— he tenaciously folded the pizza boxes despite the fumes creeping through the small window. He studied how to drive a Mercedes-Benz before taking on the driver role for Mr. Park. He studied the lines of what to say to Mrs. Park about the housemaid suffering from tuberculosis. It’s clear he works extremely hard. He’s mentally stable, unlike Geun-Se. He’s not in his situation because he wants to be—it’s just life we are seeing here.

So, in defeat, Mr. Kim closes his eyes and simply says that the best plan is no plan. I fully understood what Mr. Kim meant when muttered those lines. He tried to learn the functions of a capitalist society, then attempted be a part of that society, but ultimately lost any hope of ever getting a chance at a successful life. He’s reasonably jaded.

Mr. Kim understands that overcoming poverty is beyond his capabilities, and the incredible stroke of luck given to his family initially is regressing as fast as it came.

In the end, the son of the Kim family has a plan to attend a University, get a job, and buy that house for his Dad to just walk up the steps and be free. The scene ends in a similar fashion to the opening scene at the Kim’s residence, except the small window that was once beamed with sunlight is now dark, and the son is no longer searching for WiFi, but communicating in Morse Code. However, we all know that the son will never succeed with this plan. Even Bong Joon Ho said so— Bong calculated how long it would take the son to actually afford the house and it was over 500 years.

It’s clear the son has regressed; he has no chance at ever attending a university (lacks vigor; failed the exam 4 times and further symbolized with his head injury), and with a criminal background now, his chances of obtaining a high paying job is close to none. The only thing the son has is false hope. That false hope keeps him busy and it’s what gets him up each day. He’s convinced he can do it. He hasn’t become jaded, yet. An absolute truthful and haunting final scene, and quite an ending.

My Mom never answered my question when I asked her why she and Dad didn’t just plan, and I understand why she chose not to do so.

Likewise, there was no point for me to answer more than just “okay” to Uncle Sam. A simple talk wouldn’t have sufficed to such ignorance and arrogance. You just have to go through life and experiences to truly understand and empathize, and become enlightened.

Parasite is a an absolute masterpiece. I’m so happy it was given recognition at the 2020 Academy Awards. It’s without question that Bong Joon Ho is an amazing storyteller and director.

Overall Rating: A
Overall Rating if you understand Korean: A+

If you watched Parasite, let me know what you thought! There are so many ways this film can be interpreted, and that is what makes it so great.

Cheers to a good film.

Getting Personal about Parasite (2019) | Review

First, the movie poster.

It’s a dog eat dog world.

Actor Song Kang-ho

Everyone is a parasite

You simply can’t plan life