Welcome to another edition of the “The Valero Verdict” movie review. In this I will give you a quick movie review with a couple of bullet points of which I either liked or disliked. I will end the review with rating of the movie and a short overall thoughts.

On the docket today, one of the highest rated and most talked about movies of the year, Bong Joon-ho thriller Parasite.

Plot: All unemployed, Ki-taek’s family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

Foreign films have always been a hard one for me. I find it hard sometimes when a HIGHLY talked about film and it’s Foreign, I am going to have to dive into it and try to watch it.

Well with all the love Parasite was getting, I knew I was going to have to make this happen. So I went to my local theater, sat down and here we are.

Directing/Writing: Bong Joon-ho

This was a perfectly crafted film. I felt like Joon-ho was conducting us like an orchestra through this film and he did a brilliant job at it. As he began to slowly peel off what was going on throughout this film, you at times had no clue where it was going and I was okay with it because I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

As you see where the film is going and you are fully on-board. Joon-ho throws one of his many curveballs at you and you can’t help but to say WTF!!!! This was one of the first films in a long time in which truly had you guessing at every turn and even if you attempted to guess what was going to happen next, you didn’t.

It had its moments of laughter and mixed within that First and Second Act you had a story of family and one that always stuck together, even within the bad.

It had some incredibly dark tones of comedy but also some light hearted stuff as well. When you approach the “darker” tone of a comedy it always seems to miss but here it worked and worked in its favor several times.

Watching this family do some “smarter” things when faced with adversity was fun to watch. The families in which continuously do one stupid thing after another gets annoying and repetitive.

Acting:

The entire cast was phenomenal, each character brought a certain level to the film that elevated it.

Kang-ho Song stood out to me in this film for several reasons, his character development was my favorite in the entire film but it only works because of Song. He always was the protective father but when push came to shove, he showed you he was. He just went from this tame grumpier old man to a viscous cold hearted man because he was just protecting his family, I LOVED it.

Cinematography: Kyung-pyo Hong

This film was beautiful, the low-tone to dark-tone color palette used throughout the film was a delight to look at.

Oscar Predictions: Best Picture, Best Director, Original Screenplay, Foreign Film, & Editing

The Verdict:

***** out of ***** gavels

The thing I can’t express enough is go into this film with no knowledge of anything about it. I say this because while I heard the great things, I didn’t know about the great things within it.

This film was one of the years best. The writing of this film was magnificent but taking it from the paper and putting it on the big screen was a work of art.

It was a dark, intense, funny thriller that was just a joy to watch. I am not sure I have truly experience what I did when watching a film. The twist and turns within the film left you guessing but when they happened, it left you in awe.

I can’t wait to watch this film again.

Should You See It?: If you enjoy foreign films, if you enjoy psychological thrillers, this is the movie for you. Please go see this film.

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