Parasite

South Korean writer / director Bong Joon Ho (Okja, Snowpiercer) is a visionary, but he's no sentimental optimist. His films luxuriate in bloody class conflicts, where audience favorites are often sacrificed on the altar of art. The poor are not necessarily nobler than the rich, and they often don't get what they deserve -- or maybe they do. His latest film, the marvelous award-winner Parasite, is true to form -- a thoroughgoing tale of an under-employed family of frauds living below ground (the picture is brimming with metaphors) who through an elaborate ruse insinuate themselves into the lives (and home) of a wealthy family in need of an English tutor, and, incrementally, an art therapist, chauffeur and housekeeper. Bong shows true genius in building the crafty Family Kim's plan to ride the vain and vacuous Park family's gravy train until a dark and stormy night threatens to bring the scheme to a screeching halt. Bong uses a loving skeptic's eye in staging elaborate set pieces that alternate between shrieking hilarity and horror.