Parasite took home 4 awards and made history at the 2020 Oscars, but should it have? It was up against some heavy hitters like Joker and Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood. So did it deserve to beat them? Here are my thoughts.
In case you missed it Parasite made Oscars history this year as the first non-English language film to win Best Picture. It also took home the prize for Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Original Screenplay. Parasite was always a movie a planned on watching, especially after James Gunn said it was one of his favorites of the year, but when it won, I made it more of a priority. And I must admit, it took me completely by surprise.
For some reason I expected Parasite to be a kind of post apocalyptic type film. I thought a disease was going to take over the city and just kept waiting for that to happen. And it didn’t. But what did happen, was pretty darn amazing and completely unexpected. As I started to realize that my thoughts on this film were all wrong, I enjoyed it more and more. There is so much meaning behind this movie, and it takes a while to really see it.
A Thriller At It’s Best
You probably already know this but I love a good thriller. About halfway through the film things change…. it gets crazy. It gets weird. And I loved every second of it. That is when I was hooked. I refuse to ruin it for you but let’s just say the difference between the rich and the poor really came through at that point.
Parasite surprised me over and over. I constantly had no idea what was going to happen next and I even backed some parts up to watch them again — just to be sure I was seeing them right. There were moments where my heart was literally pounding and my face was so close to the screen I could see my breath on it. The real scary part is that there is some truth to this movie.
The rich can be greedy and naive. And the poor are willing to do whatever it takes to dig themselves out of the rut they are in. Since this is a foreign film I was reading subtitles so I was afraid I was going to miss something important. But it was easy to follow along with and I am so glad I decided to watch it. In fact, I can’t wait to watch it again.
Overall Thoughts
So is Parasite worth watching? Absolutely. It is a fantastic film, with so much meaning behind it. You will be on the edge of your seat and it is sure to keep you guessing. It is a dark thriller, with some comedy mixed in. And is close to perfect. But did Parasite deserve to win all those Oscars? Well… this is where my unpopular opinion comes out.
Best Original Screenplay? Hands down. Best Foreign Language Film? Absolutely. Best Director? Sure. Best Picture? Nope. Sorry. I still firmly believe that title belongs to Joker. Don’t get me wrong, everyone should see Parasite. You just might learn a thing or two from it. But the same goes for Joker. In fact, that is what my review of Joker was all about — how even if it isn’t your cup of tea, it is a movie you should see.
So go out and watch both Joker and Parasite. Both are amazing, meaningful movies. Hopefully you come out on the other end just a bit of a better person. But Joker still should have won Best Picture.
About Parasite
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
