Hanja (aka Parasite) (2019)

A family struggles to survive living in a basement like dwelling in a downscale neighborhood. When the son (Choi Woo Shik) gets a tutoring job in an upscale home, he perceives how gullible the family is and under false pretenses, he inveigles jobs for his father (Song Kang Ho) as a chauffeur, his mother (Jang Hye Jin) as a housekeeper and his sister (Park So Dam) as an art teacher. Directed by Bong Joon Ho (THE HOST), the film (which won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes film festival) starts off as a black comedy then takes a very dark turn where the laughs are few and far between. It almost seems like two different movies but clearly Bong Joon Ho carefully crafted this abrupt switch to sort of lure us into a complacency ("Oh, isn't this a witty movie?") before he plunges in the knife. We're not even sure who or what the title is referring to. Are the poor family parasites living off the rich family or are the rich family parasites living off exploiting the less fortunate? This is a startling film that takes a disturbing look at class consciousness in a fresh and original way. A remarkable film that should not be missed. With Lee Sun Kyun, Cho Yeo Jeong and Jung Ji So.