Parasite: The Monumental Rise of a Modern Masterpiece
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If there is one film that has taken the cinematic landscape by storm in 2019, it is Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, a captivating South Korean thriller that boldly transcends standard filmmaking and genre conventions and firmly cements itself as a wholly unique experience. Since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, where it took home the prestigious Palme d’Or prize, the film has slowly become a bonafide critical and commercial success, awards season favourite and a surefire Oscar contender, appearing on many critical publications’ top ten lists. The film’s rise has been meteoric, to say the least. Through the use of articles surrounding the film, production history, early critical reviews and charting its journey through the festival circuit, a clear and steady path to fortune and glory can be revealed.
Parasite was conceived in its infancy by Joon-ho during the production of one of his previous English-language films, Snowpiercer, according to his interview with David Sims of The Atlantic. Joon-ho and Han Jin-won penned the film’s script and principal photography took off on May 18, 2018, concluding on September 19, 2018. Joon-ho, always one to favour a small production and take great care in crafting details, completed the film on an 11 million-dollar budget and sent it to the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on May 21. As stated earlier, the film won the Palme d’Or in a unanimous decision by the Cannes jury, making Joon-ho the first Korean director to do so. To quote Cannes jury president and acclaimed filmmaker Alejandro G. Inarritu, “We were all fascinated when we saw it, and it kept growing and growing: that is why it was a unanimous decision.” .
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Early critical reviews for the Palme d’Or winner were nothing short of glowing and the film captured the hearts of nearly everyone who saw it in its first few weeks. Variety called it “a tick fat with the bitter blood of class rage”; The Guardian called it “a luxuriously watchable and satirical suspense drama”; according to Polygon’s Karen Han, “[the film] led to not only one but two bursts of applause during the critics’ screening at Cannes”. The film was nearly universally praised by critics and generated buzz around the festival circuit and the awards season conversation.
After its smashing debut and unanimous victory at Cannes, the film began travelling around the world to festivals such as Telluride and the Toronto International Film Festival — where it sold out screenings — and Fantastic Fest and the New York Film Festival — where it continued to dazzle audiences. It became such a hit that other directors, such as Josh and Benny Safdie (Good Time, Uncut Gems) and Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar), tweeted their support for the film and urged audiences to see it. Additionally, audience anticipation and desire to view the film was further fueled by Joon-ho’s urging that critics who write a review for the film “refrain as much as possible from revealing how the story unfolds”, to avoid spoilers for the film’s jaw-dropping twist.
Since its May debut at Cannes and its initial release in South Korea on May 30, 2019, the film has grossed $124.8 million and obliterated a few box office records along the way. On October 11, the film opened in New York and Los Angeles, cashing in at $376,264 from just three theatres to make its per-location average at the time a whopping $125,421, the highest of 2019 and the largest ever for an international film opening in the United States. Parasite’s per-theatre average beat that of Avengers: Endgame — currently the highest-grossing movie of all time — for a time and as the film expanded to more and more theatres across the globe, this record-setting average remained constant and cemented the film as an indie box office juggernaut.
Parasite is widely considered to be a force to be reckoned with heading into awards season, where it will contend as the South Korean entry for the Best International Film Oscar and is perhaps likely to be a consideration for Best Picture. The film has already been nominated for the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture — Foreign Language, Best Screenplay and Best Director — making it the first Korean film to receive recognition from the Golden Globes. Joon-ho’s film is also the second foreign film to be nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and has continued to rake in nominations and wins at what seems to be every single awards ceremony and film festival. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently sits at a 99 percent critical rating and a 93 percent audience score; the film has significantly benefited from word-of-mouth and social media conversation. Since its release, Parasite has continued to prove itself to be a widespread and vital cultural phenomenon that has gradually become the most talked about, must-see film of the year and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon
