In case you missed it, Parasite completely swept the 2020 Oscars. The 2019 South Korean thriller directed by the internet's new favorite human Bong Joon Ho took home the award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. Obviously this is high-key impressive, and if you didn't get around to seeing Parasite yet, chances are you're feeling extreme FOMO due to everyone celebrating without you in the group chat.
First of all, you should definitely see Parasite as soon as possible. But if you need a quick run-down because you don't have two hours and 12 minutes to spend on a cinematic experience right now, we've got it below—with and without spoilers about the ending. 'Cause honestly, get you a plot summary that can do both.
'Kay, so what is the basic plot (sans major spoilers)?
Parasite introduces us to the Kim family, who—one by one—start working for the super wealthy Park family. The Kims slowly ingratiate themselves with the Parks, starting with their son Ki-Woo, who forges university documents so he can get hired as a tutor. Then their daughter Ki-jeong passes as an art therapist to work with the Parks' son, their father Ki-taek (aka Mr. Kim) cons his way to becoming the chauffeur, and their mother Chung-sook secures the housekeeping gig (thanks to making the Parks believe 1that her predecessor, Moon-gwang, has tuberculosis). So yeah, the vibe is very shady! And things inevitably become more complicated when Moon-gwang returns to the Park family home while they're on a camping trip, which brings us to: SPOILERS!
Tell me how it ends!
But fiiiiiine, if you want to be spoiled, who am I to stop you? Okay, so Moon-gwang, the family's former housekeeper, shows up while the Parks are away for the weekend and Chung-sook is house-sitting. The thing is, because Chung-sook is secretly related to every other member of the Park family's extensive help, she's invited her husband and kids to hang out at the house with her. Chung-sook and her family assume Moon-gwang is just pissed that she lost her job, but sh*t soon goes off the rails when everyone learns that Moon-gwang actually returned because her husband, Geun-sae, has secretly been living in the mansion's hidden bunker FOR YEARS. Moon-gwang asks (er, attempts to blackmail) the Kims to protect Geun-sae in exchange for her silence on their shady behavior, but a fight breaks out—coincidentally, *right* before the Parks make a surprise return from their trip.
Naturally, chaos ensues, starting with Moon-gwang getting fatally injured in the fight. Mr. Kim brings her nearly lifeless body back down to the bunker, where Geun-sae is trapped. So temporarily, the Kims have triumphed. But then the next day, the Parks decide to host a party and invite all their hoity-toity friends. Ki-woo returns to the house for the party and Geun-sae—enraged that the Kims have killed his wife—escapes from the bunker attacks Ki-woo with a freakin' rock. Then Geun-sae sneaks upstairs and out onto the lawn and stabs Ki-jeong in front of all the party guests. Oh, and Chung-sook kills Geun-sae with a barbecue skewer! Cool-cool-cool.
At this point you're probably like, surely things can't get more f*cked-up, but fun fact: they can! Mr. Kim fatally stabs Mr. Park in front of his wife and kids and flees the scene. Which brings us to the movie's ending: Ki-woo wakes up from a coma (yeah, he sustained a head injury when Geun-sae smashed a rock on his noggin) and finds out that A) Ki-jeong died from her stabbing injury, and B) Mr. Kim is mysteriously missing. So, uh, where is he? In the darkest twist of all time, he fled the scene of his crime and retreated into the Park family's bunker. How's that for karma?? But Ki-woo can't rescue his (fugitive) dad because now a German family owns the Parks' mansion. Fin!
Wait, so why does Mr. Kim kill Mr. Park?
As Geun-sae lays dying on the grass, Mr. Park makes one final display of pure arrogance: As he reaches for his car keys, which are located underneath Geun-sae, he wrinkles his nose in total disgust at the man's smell. (Reminder: The dude had been secretly living in the bunker for years.) This sends Mr. Kim over the edge for a couple of reasons—Mr. Park had privately mocked Mr. Kim's smell to his wife (though, yeah, the Kim family had been eavesdropping), so it was personal. But mainly, Mr. Park's final act was emblematic of his snobbery—even in a completely brutal and violent situation, he believed he was better than working-class people.
Wow, okay, so what does the ending mean?
It's called class warfare, ever heard of it? No, but really, the whole movie is an exploration of the haves and have-nots. And as a viewer, you kinda can't stand both the rich and the poor. The Parks are totally ignorant of their privilege and disrespectful to the people who work for them. The Kims, though conniving and dishonest, are just trying to carve a better piece of the pie for themselves. It makes you realize how, well, random and unfair economic inequality is.
We're left to decide who the "parasite" really is—is it the spoiled Park family, who are totally dependent on the labor of the Kim family? Or is it the Kims, who infiltrated and leeched off the riches of the Parks?
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This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com. Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.