Bong Joon-ho follows Jordan Peele down the rabbit hole into a hidden world where the underclass lives below society’s surface
• Spoiler Alert – this article contains multiple spoilers for Parasite and Us
Halfway through Parasite, Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-nominated film, the story moves in an unexpected direction. A wealthy family’s ex-housekeeper returns to their home after being laid off, much to the chagrin of the current housekeeper, keeping watch while its owners are on holiday. The former housekeeper begs to be let in, explaining that she has left something in the basement. Hats off to anyone who predicts what that something is.
The camera snakes its way along a disguised stairwell, revealing her forgotten cache to be … her husband, hidden in a concrete bunker deep beneath the house. Evading creditors who might kill him, he has lived below ground for years, trapped in subterranean austerity and subsisting on food his wife sneaks down to him.