Parasite

Dear Mark,

The action in Parasite can be impressively appropriated to the liminal spaces of both architecture and psyche. Meaning is created in the stairs, passageways and basements of space, representing the perceptions and predicaments of the characters' subconscious geography. The results are arresting, and this Oscar-winning picture successfully engages the audience in the separateness of the dark claustrophobia of poverty from the glossy superficial brightness of wealth. A triumph of defamiliarisation ensues as the film prompts a re-evaluation of the texture of characters as they move within, and later between, each other's spaces.

Bong Joon Ho captures the inequalities of modern day Seoul in Parasite, using humour and horror, beauty and grit, to carry the experience of division. It is refreshing to see a foreign language film receive such warm critical acclaim, proving that subtitles and genre-flipping are no longer barriers to successful cinema.