Parasite will make audience laugh, cry and gasp in their seats (Credit: TIFF).
Directed by Bong Joon-ho, (The Host, Snowpiercer, Okja) Parasite is a thriller, comedy, horror and uncomfortable critique of capitalism and class, uniting to become a scathing examination of societal truths we inherently recognize, yet don’t want to acknowledge.
When the destitute Kim family cross paths with the wealthy glamourous Park family and slowly integrate themselves into the Parks’ lives, an unexpected chain of events unfold.
“It’s a movie that it’s better if you don’t really know much about it going into it,” said Pauline Cronin, Co-Chair of TIFF Film Circuit Saint John, having described the film as Quentin Tarantino meets Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifters.
Parasite is one of the most universally acclaimed films of 2019, with many critics ranking it among the best films of the 2010s. The film made history when it became the first South Korean film to win the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and first foreign language film to win the Screen Actors Guild Award (SAG) for Best Performance By a Cast in a Motion Picture.
It has built enormous word of mouth and critical response as it screened in festivals throughout the fall of 2019. Parasite is also the highest-grossing foreign film of the year in North America with a box office of $28 million.
“People I know who never talk to me about movies know about Parasite,” said Cronin.
The film is nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best International Feature, (as the first South Korean nominee) and Best Picture. Parasite also made Oscar history only the sixth film to be nominated for Best Picture and Best International Feature, and the eleventh foreign language film nominated for Best Picture.
Parasite will be screened for one night only on Wednesday, January 22nd. The film is in Korean, with English subtitles. For more information about TIFF Film Circuit Saint John and its screenings, you can check out their website and Facebook page.
