Parasite (Gisaengchung)

THE GIST: The four Kim family members (mom, dad, son, and daughter) live in the slums in abject poverty. One day, the son forges his credentials and finds work as a tutor for the daughter of the Parks, a very wealthy family. One by one, and unbeknownst to the Parks, he manages to have the rest of his family hired in different roles, without letting on that they're related. All seems to be going well, until a former employee is forced to reveal a dark secret.

Parasite was the shock winner of the Best Picture Oscar this year, a historic feat as it was the first time ever that a foreign film and a not-in-English film took home the topmost prize at the Academy Awards.

Not only that, it also nabbed Best Director and Best Screenplay, both for Bong Joon Ho, a name unknown to most filmgoers up until now, and of course Best International Feature Film.

I personally loved this movie because it felt incredibly original, so I was all too pleased that its brilliance was recognized so adoringly by the Academy.

THE BOTTOM LINE: This film has a little bit of everything in it: comedy, drama, horror, thriller, crime, action, so I think it should be able to please large segments of the audience. Don't let the subtitles scare you off, there's a whole wealth of great movies made in languages other than English out there in the world, all ready to be enjoyed.

Grade: 9