A poor family schemes their way into the lives of a wealthy household, until a shocking discovery upends everything. It's a darkly comic thriller. I feel like the mise-en-scene (what's placed in the frame) does most of the work of showing the class gap.
At a glance
Parasite is a 2019 thriller and drama film directed by Bong Joon-ho. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (3 narrative and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Get Out uses several of the same techniques.
Using physical places, like buildings, geography or how high up someone lives, to show something you can't see directly, such as a character's class or state of mind.
How this film uses it
Where people live in this film tells you their class. The Park family lives up on a hill with light and air. The Kims live in a semi-basement below street level.
Where to see it
The flooding sequence in Act 3. The water runs downhill and ends up in the Kim family's home.
Setting up a film to look like a familiar genre, then breaking that genre's rules on purpose. You have to rethink what kind of story you are watching.
How this film uses it
The first half plays like a social comedy. Then the film turns into horror and tragedy. The switch shakes how comfortable you were and makes you doubt who you were rooting for.
Where to see it
The housekeeper's return in Act 2. This is where the tone starts to change.
Showing an object or detail early on that becomes important later. The idea is that nothing gets screen time unless the story is going to use it.
How this film uses it
The Scholar's Rock, the garden, the Morse code light and the smell motif are all introduced early. Each one comes back later with serious consequences.
Where to see it
The garden party sequence in the finale. The early setups pay off here.
Using sounds the characters themselves can hear, like footsteps, radios or traffic, to build tension or show how someone feels. The sound does more than make the scene realistic.
How this film uses it
You hear rain pretty much everywhere in this film. At first, it's just background. Later, it warns you that disaster is coming, which ties the weather to what happens to the Kim family.
Where to see it
The overnight rainstorm sequence. The Kims' basement apartment gets destroyed.
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