Parasite (2019), a Korean thriller directed by Bong Joon Ho, depicts the parasitic relationship that the lower class Kim family forms with the wealthy Park family, a direct result of their desire to ascend up the social hierarchy. This eye-opening film serves as a social commentary on capitalism and wealth inequality, demonstrating the distinct struggles different classes of society face as a result of their respective levels of access to basic life necessities. The disturbing birthday party scene near the end of the film serves as its climax, a moment full of rage and vengeance amidst the wealthy and the poor, which forces the audience to reflect upon the concepts of social mobility and class conflict.

           Throughout Parasite, the Kims are characterized as a lower class, manipulative family, striving to become wealthy through whatever means they deem necessary. In order to earn money and provide for his family, Ki Woo Kim, the teenage son, pretends to be a college student as he interviews to become an English tutor for the child of an extremely wealthy family, the Parks. The Park family serves as a direct contrast to the Kims in terms of class, wealth, and status, where Bong Joon Ho characterizes the parents as highly gullible and ignorant of the consequences of their words and actions. Ki Woo serves as the gateway into the Park’s home when he is officially offered the tutoring position for their teenage daughter, Da Hye Park. Soon after he begins tutoring, Ki Woo strategically gets his sister, Ki Jung Kim, a job as the young son’s art therapist, Da Song Park. Eventually, through various different manipulative tactics, Mr. and Mrs. Kim also became employed by the Parks as their driver and housekeeper, respectively, after getting those previous employees fired. The Kim’s elaborate scheme to live directly off of the Park’s wealth begins once their entire family becomes employed through Mrs. Park, fulfilling different jobs while avoiding the discovery of their true identities and their relationship to one another. 

            However, the thriller takes a sharp turn when Mrs. Kim, who is now employed as the new housekeeper, allows the old housekeeper, Moon Gwang, to retrieve one of her belongings in the hidden bunker beneath the Park’s kitchen. After the entire Kim family discovers Moon Gwang’s malnourished husband, Geun Se, in his living quarters within the bunker, the film’s plot shifts dramatically, upending the Kim’s deceitful plan. The audience now learns that there are two families exhibiting parasitic behaviors by living off of the Park’s wealth where they pit themselves against each other. This moment in the story ultimately leads to violent conflict between two poor families striving to be released from the constraints of poverty.

           Jinmo Yang, the talented editor of the film, constantly plays with the emotions of the audience throughout Parasite, especially during the events central to Da Song’s birthday party scene. This unsettling and unpredictable scene begins with Ki Woo struggling to push the furniture out of the way that blocks the bunker, placing the symbolic rock his friend gave him in the beginning of the film on a bench. The following shot is a low angle close-up of his hand holding the rock as he slowly walks down the dark hallway with green tinted lights, heightening suspense within the viewer. As Ki Woo approaches the stairs, Yang alternates between a point of view shot of him watching the rock fall down the stairs and an upward angle shot showing his face in order to reveal his regret and disbelief surrounding his mistake. The editor’s decision not to incorporate music forces the audience to stay on their toes and solely focus on the events occurring on screen, heightening tension as Ki Woo slowly approaches the depths of the bunker. In his interview in Gabriella Oldham’s First Cut: Conversations with Film Editors, Bill Pankow explains the importance of time when creating tension in a scene. He states, “If it takes a certain amount of time to create tension, there will be a certain surprise or shock or payoff at the endpoint… you do need time to build up the audience’s expectation, and either deliver or not deliver something intentionally. You need to use that time to the best advantage. To use the audience’s mind” (178). After he catches a glimpse of Moon Gwang on the floor, Ki Woo hesitantly moves closer to her and asks if she is alright. This specific and quiet period of time certainly builds expectation of an attack in the audience as they witness a rope representing a halo slowly rise behind Ki Woo’s head. At this moment, Yang “delivers” the aggressive dragging incident, performed by Geun Se, after he created a considerable amount of tension within the viewer. 

          After Ki Woo manages to escape the rope Geun Se sneakily put around his neck, the audience follows the two individuals running down the dim, cement hallway before approaching the upstairs world of luxury. The extremely narrow space of the hallway makes the viewer feel somewhat claustrophobic as Ki Woo struggles to escape the confines of the bunker that represents lower class society. As Bobbie O’Steen explains in her The Invisible Cut: How Editors Make Movie Magic, “When an editor is intercutting between pursuer and pursued, he has to make sure the audience always knows where the two elements are in relation to each other” (O’Steen 216). Yang does an excellent job in informing the audience where Geun Se and Ki Woo are relative to one another by including shots where the two individuals are present together, depicting the teenager being aggressively pursued by the man who has been living in the bunker for several years. 

The dark, dramatic bunker incident is juxtaposed with a close-up shot of a cello playing diegetic music that zooms outward to a woman singing in Italian, a signifier of wealth and upper class society. The colors in this shot are very bright and warm, serving as the direct opposite of the previous scene where one is barely able to see the details of the characters. The contrast between the tightness and darkness of the bunker with the openness and brightness of the upstairs further demonstrates the different livelihoods that these two families experience. In order to alert the audience about Geun Se’s imminent ascent towards the outdoor party, Yang cuts back to him moving the furniture in front of the bunker and then walking upstairs after smashing Ki Woo in the head again with the rock that now symbolizes violence. Yang then switches to a shot of Mrs. Park lighting the birthday cake while surrounded by numerous cheering individuals, demonstrating how these lively and happy party-goers are completely unaware of the events unfolding in the basement. 

           As Ken Dancyger explains in his The Technique of Film and Video Editing: History, Theory, and Practice regarding Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1951), “...Hitchcock used parallel action to introduce two strangers on a train who are moving toward one another. As is the case in parallel action, the implication is that they will come together, and they do” (88).The parallel action occurring on screen is a technique Yang utilized in order to imply that Geun Se and the people attending the party are inevitably about to meet, which becomes the climax of Parasite. Tension continues to rise within the viewer as Geun Se grabs a large knife from the kitchen and calmly walks towards the party. The composition of this shot is especially effective in creating suspense as it portrays Geun Se approaching the crowd in the foreground in contrast to the oblivious individuals in the background. Chaos immediately ensues as soon as he pushes through the crowd and sprints towards Ki Jung, stabbing her in the chest, which startles the audience. 

Time is certainly manipulated during this part of the film as Yang incorporates fast cuts and slow motion as the chaos unfolds, depicting real time then collapsing it. As O’Steen explains in her work, “... alternating between a fast pace and slow pace can also heighten the impression of speed and create a unique emotional impact” (194). Yang constantly switches the pace of each unsteady shot during this outdoor scene, which heightens tension and allows the audience to focus on the characters’ emotions and reactions to the horror they have just experienced or caused. His decision to utilize slow motion when Da Song faints after staring at Geun Se creates dramatic effect, drawing the audience’s attention back to Mrs. Park’s discussion about her son seeing a “ghost,” who the audience learns was actually Geun Se himself. 

         Another revealing moment when slow motion is used occurs when Mr. Kim throws the car keys to the highly distressed Mr. Park, but they fall beneath Geun Se and Mrs. Kim fighting as she stabs him with a skewer. Yang switches to a slow motion close-up of Mr. Park holding his nose as he moves Geun Se’s body to grab the keys, emphasizing his outward disgust towards the scent of the poor, something he has exhibited throughout the entirety of the film. Mr. Kim’s grim reaction is then depicted in another close-up, preceding his impulse decision to stab Mr. Park as a means of revenge for his complete disregard and distaste for members of lower class society. The audience no longer hears the screams or cries from the crowd, rather, Yang fades out these noises and incorporates suspenseful music. Time is expanded once again after this moment as Mr. Kim attempts to comprehend and fathom what he has just done, as well as what everyone else has just witnessed him do. As Dancyger states in relation to another one of Hitchcock’s films, specifically Psycho (1960), “In real time, the killing of Marion Crane would be over in seconds. By disassembling details of the killing and trying to shock the audience with the killing, Hitchcock lengthened real time” (92). Yang successfully lengthens real time during the climactic scene in Parasite, specifically by including different details of the numerous murders, which leads the audience on this unpredictable journey through time and space. 

         Perhaps one of the most symbolic shots within this traumatic scene occurs when Mr. Kim flees the backyard after vengefully stabbing Mr. Park in the chest. A bird’s-eye view shot is utilized at this moment to reveal Mr. Kim’s complete disorientation as he tries to figure out where he should run away to. The composition of this shot is dynamic and involves his shadow to the right of him, creating a stark line between the dark, shaded grass versus the vibrant, green part. This contrast represents how he has become this self-divided individual throughout the narrative, one who wishes to live a wealthy and lavish lifestyle versus one who is tied to the constraints of poverty. The bird’s eye view and use of slow motion at this moment literally and figuratively suspends the audience in time and space as Mr. Kim escapes the crime scene. The scene ends with Mr. Kim disappearing from the shot as he descends down the outdoor staircase, representing his return to lower class society and submission to inequality. Finally, Yang uses a fade out to signify the completion of the birthday party scene, providing the audience with a few seconds to comprehend the violent and traumatic events they have just witnessed on screen. 

         Da Song’s birthday party ultimately results in a series of unfortunate events driven by social inequality and the deep desire to attain wealth, emphasizing the presence of conflict within the same socioeconomic class, rather than solely between different classes. The front yard of the Park’s house that once served as a safe and peaceful green space has been transformed into a crime scene marked by vengeance and strife, depicting how challenging social mobility can be in a capitalist system. Ultimately, all three families share parasitic relationships with one another, where the Parks exploit the services that the poor families provide them with while the Kims, Moon Gwang, and Geun Se leech off the wealth of the naive, upper class family.