What do you think of the movie Parasite (2019)?

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I haven't seen Parasite, but it's on my list. Looking at director Bong Joon Ho's filmography, Memories of Murder was an excellent movie, but I found The Host to be a little campy and didn't finish it. Okja looked weird, and along the same lines as The Host, so I wasn't interested. Snowpiercer also didn't peek my curiosity. So I have mixed feelings about him.
I too saw some of Snowpeircer back in the day, but didn't finish it, but only half about. Perhaps because it just seemed like another futuristic thriller set in a totalitarian society, which we have seen so much. And The Host and Okja looked like campy monster movies, but the CGI just doesn't look as good for their budgets it seems.

But I want to give them a chance now, now that I love Parasite so much.

WARNING: "Parasite" spoilers below
Because if it's already so much of a risk just to sneak up to the kitchen for food, it's presumably so much more of a risk to sneak out of the house to where more people could spot him (and who knows how far away the nearest mailbox is anyway), plus there's also the risk not being able to sneak back in).
Okay thanks that makes sense, I just thought maybe a letter to the family was worth the risk perhaps, but still makes sense



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WARNING: "SPOILER" spoilers below
When the Dad ran back into the house, after the murder, he goes back int the hidden basement. But on the way there, wouldn't he have noticed his son lying unconscious, in a pool of blood, and then panic, and want to tend to his aid, and therefore not go back in the basement?



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WARNING: "Parasite" spoilers below
I figure he's already in panic mode over trying to get into the basement as quickly as possible and trying to take the son with him would only slow him down. Of course, he could also realise that it makes more sense to leave the son outside where he'd get discovered by the authorities and given medical attention rather than taken to the basement where he would definitely bleed out and die.
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I guess so, I just thought the site of his son in a pool of blood, would get him more emotional and compromise his judgment, so he wouldn't think so logically like that, maybe.

And the reason why his son went down there and opened the door in the first place, was cause he was worried that they would be dead and wanted to check right?



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One thing about the movie is that it keeps being described as a comedy-thriller, but for me it's just a straight drama thriller. I only laughed three times. The fake blood in the garbage scene, the what to do about the panties scene, and the free extermination scene. So are there really enough laughs for it to be considered a comedy-thriller? Not that this hinders my enjoyment, I just thought was enjoying a drama.



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There is also another part of the ending I have a question about.

WARNING: "SPOILER" spoilers below
Why didn't the son ever go visit his Dad when the owners of the house were out? The Dad said that he often sneaks out food when the owners are at work, so we know that the son would have those opportunities.

Now you could say the son does not want to go cause he is under police surveillance, and does not want to lead the police to his Dad, but he did go up to the house quite a few times, to write down the Morse code that his Dad was signalling him with, with the lights. So since the police didn't notice any of this, than he must have not have been under surveillance anymore, and it would have been safe a lot likely then?



WARNING: "Parasite" spoilers below
He doesn't "go up to the house" for the morse code. He specifically goes up on a hill far away so he can see the lights without being anywhere near the house.



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WARNING: "Parasite" spoilers below
He doesn't "go up to the house" for the morse code. He specifically goes up on a hill far away so he can see the lights without being anywhere near the house.
Yeah but the cops see him looking through binoculars, at the direction of the same house, and writing things down for a long period of time? Wouldn't they figure it that he is up to something, or want to see what he is looking at?



Yeah but the cops see him looking through binoculars, at the direction of the same house, and writing things down for a long period of time? Wouldn't they figure it that he is up to something, or want to see what he is looking at?
Your question was why he doesn't just go into the house if he's near it anyway. The answer is that he's not near it anyway so it's not the same thing. Sure, they might think he's up to something, but not know why. But thinking he's up to something from a distance and watching him actually walk into the house are two different things, therefore there's no issue.



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Yeah okay, that makes sense. I watched the movie again, as it was re-released in theaters where I live now. Still very good. But I keep reading that this movie is a comedy thriller, when I read about, but I never thought of it as a comedy, but pretty much a straight up drama. I only laughed I think three times, and found it be a drama, so why are sites describing it as a comedy thriller, or dark comedy?



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Do they though?
WARNING: spoilers below
It's been a few weeks since watching it but do they show cops watching the son watching the house?

Also, was there more than one letter transferred to suggest multiple visits after? Sure, there was a sequence where the son started writing a reply, going to college, (edited after re-watching the ending) getting rich, buying the house (we can assume there would have been several letters somehow traded over the YEARS it would take for all that to happen), and finally the father walking out; but, the shot comes back to the son still writing the reply, no? I took that all as fantasy and that it never happened. His dad just recently told him his secret is to never make plans. No disappointment that way. I'm paraphrasing from memory. But my point is, if that was only just a fantasy then likely there was no continued visits to the house by the son and the one letter was the only letter sent and received. The father had no way of knowing his son had received it so my guess is that he just kept repeating the same letter thinking maybe one day the son might see it.

I just started watching the end to confirm things. The son says in narration that he didn't even start going up the mountain until after the news went quiet and all the rails stopped. So no more risk of surveillance. The father did write, "if I send out this letter every day, maybe some day you'll see it. So long." I take that literally. The son's reply only speaks in future tense and ends with, "Take care until then. So long." As the camera lowers back to the son, coming out of his fantasy.

The son only saw the letter one random day when he stayed later than normal. We see him recording the dots and dashes vocally to his phone and later transcribing them. There's nothing suggesting he continued to go back after this especially knowing he can't get a message back to his father. I think it's safe to assume the father continued the same letter everyvfollowing night until he gave up. His father said so long. The son recognized that was the end and replied so long, in his heart. At least that's what I get from it.



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Do they though?
WARNING: spoilers below
It's been a few weeks since watching it but do they show cops watching the son watching the house?

Also, was there more than one letter transferred to suggest multiple visits after? Sure, there was a sequence where the son started writing a reply, going to college, (edited after re-watching the ending) getting rich, buying the house (we can assume there would have been several letters somehow traded over the YEARS it would take for all that to happen), and finally the father walking out; but, the shot comes back to the son still writing the reply, no? I took that all as fantasy and that it never happened. His dad just recently told him his secret is to never make plans. No disappointment that way. I'm paraphrasing from memory. But my point is, if that was only just a fantasy then likely there was no continued visits to the house by the son and the one letter was the only letter sent and received. The father had no way of knowing his son had received it so my guess is that he just kept repeating the same letter thinking maybe one day the son might see it.

I just started watching the end to confirm things. The son says in narration that he didn't even start going up the mountain until after the news went quiet and all the rails stopped. So no more risk of surveillance. The father did write, "if I send out this letter every day, maybe some day you'll see it. So long." I take that literally. The son's reply only speaks in future tense and ends with, "Take care until then. So long." As the camera lowers back to the son, coming out of his fantasy.

The son only saw the letter one random day when he stayed later than normal. We see him recording the dots and dashes vocally to his phone and later transcribing them. There's nothing suggesting he continued to go back after this especially knowing he can't get a message back to his father. I think it's safe to assume the father continued the same letter everyvfollowing night until he gave up. His father said so long. The son recognized that was the end and replied so long, in his heart. At least that's what I get from it.
Oh okay, but isn't this even more of a possible plot hole now though, cause if the surveillance has stopped at this point, then why doesn't the son go to visit the dad, when the owners are not home then now?



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WARNING: spoilers below
Probably because in the father's letter he said the maid lives there 24/7, thus risking his life each time he goes up for food.



Not sure if you already asked about the "comedy" thing here? Or in another thread?

There's nothing "official" calling it a comedy, right? So you're just asking us to account for other people's random opinions. Some people find it funnier than others. There's nothing to unpack there, really. I found it pretty funny, but wouldn't use the word "comedy" to describe it. Most great films are at least moderately funny, though.

Re: the surveillance. Does the son know they've stopped? Does he just suspect it? I feel like all of these questions have easy answers if we're trying to come up with a possible explanation, rather than deliberately looking for plot holes.



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Oh well in ynwtf's post, he said that after the rails stopped their was no more risk of surveillance, but does that mean the son knows this for sure though? Oh maybe I asked about the comedy thing before but forgot, sorry if I asked it twice.



When I heard 'Parasite' I thought it's going to be a badass sci-fi movie but when I saw the movie, mehn!!!, it was freaking cool