Parasite

What’s the best Best Picture winner of the last six years? Any answer outside of Bong Joon-ho’s incisive South Korean class commentary is wrong. When audiences caught the 2019 award winner, they went wild for its cunning challenges to our ideas of societal divides – although many in our more monied strata experienced a little bit of “bullies watching Dumbo” by not catching on that they more resembled the pinched-nose rich people than the scrappy Kim family. (Please read The Idiot by Elif Batuman.) As much an argument for capitalism’s destruction as a feature for the criminally under-nominated ensemble cast, Parasite gave us possibly the best moment in Oscar history: Bong calling the televised event a “very local” awards show. – James Scott Read a full review of Parasite.