Directing: B+
Acting: B
Writing: B+
Cinematography: A-
Editing: A-

If you were to go into Parasite cold, with no prior knowledge of anything about it, it would likely be a delightful surprise—and one that slowly reveals itself as such. It takes a left turn about halfway through that suddenly makes everything much more interesting. And, ironically for me, most of the (probably few) people who read this review would still have that effect, if you happen to decide to see the film even after reading what I have to say about it.

Because the thing is, most of you haven’t spent weeks, even months, hearing about the many layers of success this film is enjoying: film festival awards, near-universal critical adoration, staggering per-screen box office earnings in limited U.S. release. So you could hear about it just this once, seeing this contextualization just once in this very review, and not be much affected by it, beyond thinking, Maybe I should see that. The key difference, and the slight problem from my end, is that I’ve been reading and hearing about it for so long that I have come to expect a level of greatness it could never live up to. The level of hype for this movie is rivaling that of last year’s Roma, which was more deserving of any argument that it was a “masterpiece.” And even that film had certain elements that did not live up to the hype, although its technical achievements were objectively jaw-dropping.

Parasite is a memorably well-made movie, but is really not on the same level. It’s worth seeing, but perhaps not worth evangelizing for. I went in expecting—or at least hoping for—something that would blow me away, and instead I spent half the movie thinking, This is … fine.

That said, Parasite is a slow burn, and in the end it more than justifies itself. Anyone even remotely familiar with the work of Bong Joon Ho (The Host, Snowpiercer) knows to expect that, at some point in the movie, the story will suddenly veer into bonkers territory. And although The Parasite is his most straightforward drama to date, less directly tied to specific genre than his other films, it is still no exception. What makes it stand out is that it has something to say, specifically about class divides.

It’s entirely possible there is a lot about Parasite I could not quite appreciate properly unless I had a working knowledge of South Korean culture and economics, both how they mirror similar issues in other countries around the world and how they are unique to Bong Joon Ho’s native country. I’m willing to accept the idea that I did, I might hold this movie higher up as an example of essential cinema. As it is, from my outsider perspective, it strikes me as just another movie exploring income inequality, with a slightly exotic sensibility.

With any knowledge of Bong Joon Ho’s previous work, you might understandably be tempted to take the title Parasite literally. Two of his previous films were about weird animals, after all (in addition to The Host in 2007, South Korea’s answer to Godzilla, there was the genetically engineered “superpig” of 2017’s Okja). This time, though, it’s entirely metaphorical: an unemployed and near-destitute family of four, with two young adult children, infiltrates a wealthy family by pretending to be qualified to work the jobs for which they get hired: an English language tutor; an art teacher; a cheaufur; a housekeeper. It’s the young son who gets in the door first as the tutor, and one by one, using a mix of expertly applied con artistry and carefully calibrated “personal recommendations,” they all get each other hired in other household positions.

The parts that I cannot tell here for fear of spoiling things are the things that make Parasite worth recommending. Well into the story, new characters are introduced in ways both surprising and understandable; complications arise that lead to both uniquely executed nuance and spurts of moderately graphic violence.

Overall, Parasite is presented with a level of controlled understatement that belies Bong Joon Ho’s usual directorial style. He’s usually much more over-the-top than this, but a strong case could be made that this is his best movie. It’s certainly very well shot and edited.

For me, though, it continues an impressive track record of consistency. This is my fourth review of a Bong Joon Ho film, and in all four cases I’ve given him a B+. This man’s movies are never for everyone, but for those they do speak to, they speak incredibly well. None quite reach the level of “masterwork,” however—frankly, he’s just too weird. Parasite is by some distance the least-weird of his movies, though, which thus makes it likely his most accessible. Plenty of people who can’t get onboard with his other films will have an easier time doing so with this one, and it will be worth the effort.

Overall: B+