Poster © CJ Entertainment. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreDrama & Thriller
RatedR
Runtime2 hr 12 mins
ReleasedMay 30, 2019
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorBong Joon Ho
StarringSong Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong
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Parasite (2019)
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| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Parasite's Details | |
| Genre | Drama & Thriller |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 05/21/2019 (Cannes); 05/30/2019 (South Korea) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 2 hr 12 mins |
| Budget | $11.4M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Parasite's Interests | |
| General | Scholar's rocks, borrowed Wi-Fi, hilltop staircases, jjapaguri, a very nice lawn. |
| Music | Jung Jae-il, with a grand, baroque-flavored score that makes every scheme feel elegant. |
| Movies | Snowpiercer (2013). Same director, same class divide, but on a train. |
| Television | Succession. Rich families, huge houses, nobody is okay. |
| Heroes | Ki-jung. Confident enough to invent an art therapy career on the spot. |
| Parasite's Crew | |
| Director | Bong Joon Ho |
| Writers | Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin-won, Bong Joon Ho (story) |
| Producers | Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, Bong Joon Ho, Jang Young-hwan |
| Cinematography | Hong Kyung-pyo |
| Music | Jung Jae-il |
| Edited By | Yang Jin-mo |
| Production | Barunson E&A |
| Distributed By | CJ Entertainment |
The Kim family lives in a cramped semi-basement apartment, folds pizza boxes for cash and borrows Wi-Fi from the neighbors. Then son Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) lands a gig tutoring the teenage daughter of the wealthy Park family, who live in a sleek hilltop house. Once he is inside, he sees openings everywhere. His sister Ki-jung (Park So-dam), father Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho) and mother Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin) start lining up jobs there too, posing as unrelated strangers. Mr. Park (Lee Sun-kyun) and his wife Yeon-gyo (Cho Yeo-jeong) have no idea. Bong Joon Ho directs. One hundred thirty-two minutes, and the less you know, the better.
Anyone with a plan. Bring a scholar's rock and a very convincing diploma.
In the first act of Parasite, Ki-woo gets handed a big decorative rock and calls it metaphorical, out loud. That’s Bong Joon Ho at his least subtle, and it’s the only real flaw I can find. The rest is a con movie, a family comedy, a thriller and a stomach drop, all wearing the same nice sweater. The Kims fold pizza boxes in a semi-basement, then talk their way into a rich family’s house one fake résumé at a time, and you root for them way harder than you should. Song Kang-ho can turn a single look into a whole speech. Park So-dam rattles off a fake background like a jingle and sells it completely. The Park house is a character too, all glass and stairs, and every step means something. It made $263.5 million worldwide on a reported $11.4M budget. A 9.7 because it’s funny until it isn’t, and then it’s unforgettable. $998 says you sniff your own jacket on the way out and pretend you were fixing the collar.
What works: A flawless ensemble, a house that tells the story through its stairs and windows, and tone shifts that hit like a trap door.
What doesn’t: A few symbols, like the scholar’s rock, get pointed at so directly they feel like the movie nudging your elbow.
Who it’s for: Anyone who likes a thriller with a sense of humor and a point, and people who think they don’t watch subtitled movies.
Spoilers
The old housekeeper’s husband has been secretly living in a bunker under the Park house, and the two struggling families end up at war over it. It all erupts at a sunny birthday party, where Ki-taek turns on Mr. Park after one last wrinkle of the nose and kills him, then disappears into the bunker himself while his son dreams of buying the house someday.
| Song Kang-ho | Kim Ki-taek |
| Lee Sun-kyun | Park Dong-ik |
| Cho Yeo-jeong | Choi Yeon-gyo |
| Choi Woo-shik | Kim Ki-woo / "Kevin" |
| Park So-dam | Kim Ki-jung / "Jessica" |
| Jang Hye-jin | Chung-sook |
| Lee Jung-eun | Gook Moon-gwang |
| Park Myung-hoon | Oh Geun-sae |
| Jung Ji-so | Park Da-hye |
| Jung Hyeon-jun | Park Da-song |
| Park Keun-rok | Yoon |
| Park Seo-joon | Min-hyuk |
| Jung Yi-seo | a pizza parlour owner |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 4 November 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 8.5 / 10 (1,205,741 votes) → 8.5 / 10 (1,207,052 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 28 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 8.5 / 10 (1,204,073 votes) → 8.5 / 10 (1,205,741 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 21 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 8.5 / 10 (1,203,011 votes) → 8.5 / 10 (1,204,073 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +400 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $263.5M; Domestic box office $53.8M; Opening weekend $393K; Profit / loss (est.) +$114.6M; Rotten Tomatoes 99%; box office chart updated; RT 99% (485 reviews); Metacritic 97 / 100; IMDb users 8.5 / 10 (1,203,011 votes); movie.guru score 9.8.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.