#90 Parasite (Bong) at the Osio Theater
Parasite (2019) is one of only four films on the list made in the past decade. It’s precise, dark, and intense, but also slyly playful. Shot almost entirely within two homes, it's deeply layered masterclass in technical filmmaking. Bong Joon-ho’s sophisticated blocking—so exact it feels inevitable—often reminds me of Kurosawa.
What stays with me most, though, is a quieter moment: Mr. Kim and his son Ki-woo are forced to spend the night in a school gym after their semi-basement apartment floods. Surrounded by other displaced families sleeping on the floor, Mr. Kim offers his bleak philosophy of survival: “You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan at all…”
That idea lingers with me long after the film ends, made all the more haunting by the fact that Parasite itself is so meticulously planned, so ruthlessly controlled. But maybe that tension is part of what makes the film feel so alive.