Gisaengchung (Bong Joon-ho, 2019)

An almost wholly unemployed family in Seoul, so firmly on the bottom rung of society that they cannot afford to live properly above street level, come up with a scheme to elevate their fortune when the opportunity for the son to be employed as an English teacher to the daughter of a rich family presents itself. They then engineer getting rid of the family's household staff by ingeniously foul means, stepping into their jobs. Life is momentarily sweet, but the happiness is fragile.
What distinguishes Parasite from a host of other twist-filled black comedies revolving around false identities is ultimately its social aspect: while the farcical elements where they repeatedly almost get caught are a hoot, what really fuels the film is its ire at the injustice of a system in which the only way to stay above water is to accept the status quo hook, line and sinker, and acquiesce to being seen as nothing but a leech. Its Palme d'Or at Cannes was well deserved for managing this juggling act, and that's not always the case.

8/10