Few films in recent memory have landed with the force, confidence and staying power of this one masterpiece. Bong Joon Ho’s razor-sharp 2019 thriller has re-entered the cultural conversation, and with good reason. At its core, the film tells the story of two families living at opposite ends of the social spectrum. The struggling Kim family survives paycheck to paycheck, while the wealthy Parks enjoy a life of comfort and great privilege. 

When the Kims gradually embed themselves into the Parks’ household through deception and opportunity, what begins as darkly comic social satire slowly mutates into something far more unsettling. Its themes of greed, inequality, and class tension resonate more than ever, which may explain why, in 2025, The New York Times crowned Parasite the best film of the 21st century so far.

Bong Joon Ho, who co-wrote the screenplay with Han Jin-won, orchestrates this shift with astonishing control. Inspired by his own earlier stage play and drawing thematic echoes from classic Korean cinema, Bong crafts a film that is funny, tense, shocking and deeply uncomfortable, and sometimes all at once.

Song Kang-ho anchors the story with a performance that balances warmth, desperation and moral ambiguity, while Cho Yeo-jeong and Lee Sun-kyun bring nuance to the seemingly untouchable Park family.

No character is entirely innocent, and no one escapes scrutiny, reinforcing the film’s central idea, that class division corrodes everyone it touches.

The film has earned an impressive 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and won the Academy Award for Best Picture as a non-English-language film.

Parasite made history at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning Best Picture and becoming the first non-English-language film ever to receive the top honour.

It also took home three additional Oscars: Best Director for Bong Joon Ho, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film.

This marked the first time a South Korean film earned any Academy Award recognition, and it became one of only four films in history to win both the Palme d’Or and the Best Picture Oscar, a feat not accomplished in more than six decades.

One person wrote about the film on Rotten Tomatoes: “A cinematic masterpiece. It is perhaps the most perfectly-paced film of all-time.

“The story remains both compelling and elusive throughout. The plot is like a Russian nesting doll unfolding one twist after another. A truly perfect film.”

Another viewer called it the “best movie of all time”.