8.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik, Park So-damDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 84% |
Dark humor | 42% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Korean: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, French
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The title Parasite conjures images of some sort of traditional Horror picture, with characters battling some flesh-eating, mind-altering, body-inhabiting something-or-another to grotesque physical harm and emotional consequence. Director Bong Joon-ho's film is nothing like that, but the title fits the material perfectly, anyway. Rather than a dark and spooky, blood-and-guts, infestation and outwardly gruesome film, Parasite tells a story of class warfare, of infiltration of a supposedly inferior subspecies, feasting on a supposedly superior host, for its own gain -- but also vice versa. The picture is riveting in its technical structure, its narrative cohesion, and its subtle, but unmissable, social explorations. What it wants to say and what it ultimately says may be up for debate, but the movie is a striking example of both timely and timeless story building as well as contemporary cinema built as a masterclass of structural workmanship.
Parasite's 1080p transfer excels in all areas of concern. The digitally lensed motion picture reveals extremely fine detail with impressive command. Character close-ups reveal intricate skin complexities -- pores, ridges, hairs -- with striking clarity. Environments are beautifully rendered, particularly as the film contrasts the squalor within the Kim family's semi-basement -- packed with junk alongside a few necessities -- and the Park household, clean and resplendent and minimalist, its large space uncluttered yet somehow uninviting at the same time. The clarity of the contrast is vital to the movie's thematic currents, only reinforced by a third key location that is the bleakest and grayest yet perhaps most visually vital locale in the movie. The digital workmanship is first rate and the movie, photographed at a resolution of 6.5K and finished at 4K, downscales quite efficiently and reliably to 1080p. The picture further benefits from well balanced colors. The array of odds and ends within the semi-basement pop with vitality but carefully considered balance and faithfulness to the multitudinous tones. The sleek and modern but gray-dominant colors throughout the Park home are interrupted by popping greens outside and splashes of warm wood or white, but the image handles that predominant upper class grayscale quite nicely. A pop of red placed on a tissue at a key moment in the movie reveals eye-catching tonal intensity. Skin tones are fine and black levels, critical to several scenes, hold deep and pure. Noise does sprinkle in across various low light scenes but never raises to any level of distraction. Other source or encode issues are nonexistent. It's more than a surprise that Universal has not released the film on UHD considering both its technical merits and critical success, but the Blu-ray is extremely strong and a representation of the format near its pinnacle.
Parasite's native Korean language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is the only audio option on the disc (only English subtitles are included). The track is fabulous, projecting sound with confidence and precision placement that uses the allocated channels to maximum effect. Most of the high points come in the form of ambient fill. The surround channels pick up the sweeping fumigation blower early in the film, punctuating the Kim lifestyle and demonstrating the track's audio prowess. A coughing fit in a key scene later in chapter five hacks through the back with effective detail, setting the stage for one of the pivotal plot points to follow. A deluge of rainfall in chapter ten soaks the stage with highly impressive saturation and command; the full stage immersion adds tension to a difficult scene and, minutes later, grows in depth and intensity when the Kim family discovers a familiar location flooded to waist-deep level. Music is powerfully engaging across the front while folding in surround and subwoofer content, all the while maintaining fulfilling fidelity. Dialogue is clear and accurate, well prioritized and steady in its front-center positioning.
The Parasite Blu-ray includes a filmmaker Q&A and a pair of trailers. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. A DVD
disc is not. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.
Out of squalor, into high society. Parasite explores a symbiosis of sorts, a merging of the classes by need and by deception. The film explores the intermingling of rich and poor to astounding complexity but also ease of access. It's both humorous -- can the family maintain the multiplying illusion? -- and horrific, not so much from traditional Horror beats but rather in an appreciable simmering of tensions that seem destined to explode into something much more than snide comments about detachment or odor. With Parasite, Bong Joon-ho joins a select group of contemporary filmmakers, including Jordan Peele, as a master storyteller and social commentator that blends art house construction with multiplex accessibility. Why Universal has not released Parasite to the UHD format is anyone's guess, but the Blu-ray is plenty strong in the A/V department. Supplements are disappointingly thin. Very highly recommended.
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