Parasite: 10 Surprisingly Funny Moments In The Thriller

The movie Parasite follows the story of the Kim and the Park family on two separate ends of the South Korean class spectrum as the Kim family lives in poverty, barely surviving, and the Park family lives a lavish luxurious life. The entire Kim family is hired by the Park family and they begin to live a more prosperous life.

Although Bong Joon-ho’s movie is mostly a dramatic and tense thriller that closely follows the lives of the two families there are also moments of comedy throughout the film.

10 Dramatic Hot Sauce

When the Kim family targets the Parks’ housekeeper they plan to convince Mrs. Park that the housekeeper has been lying about having Tuberculosis. They devise a complicated set up including giving her an allergic reaction with peach fuzz that causes her to cough uncontrollably. Ki-taek finishes the plan as he pours hot sauce on a napkin and dramatically shows Mrs. Park what appears to be a blood-soaked rag.

9 So Metaphorical

The scholar’s stone following the family, specifically the son Ki-woo, has a dark type of irony as it eventually becomes his downfall. When Ki-woo’s friend Min-hyuk gives the family the prestigious gift they’re all impressed although they would rather have food. Ki-woo constantly says how metaphorical the rock is throughout the film and he constantly has it with him, but there’s a funny and dark sense of irony as the very thing he treasured is used to hurt him.

8 Jessica’s Jingle

Ki-jung is remembering her backstory as “Jessica” before she meets the Park family. Before they ring the doorbell she pauses and grabs her brother’s arm saying “Jessica, only child, Illinois, Chicago, classmate Kim Jin-mo, he’s your cousin.” It’s a cute and quirky little moment that almost has the audience forgetting the tense meeting as she prepares to lie.

7 Peach Fuzz Plan

Part of the Kim family plan to get the Park’s housekeeper fired is to cause an allergic reaction that causes her to cough uncontrollably and go seek medical help. Da-hye mentions in passing that the housekeeper has a terrible allergy to peaches and they can’t have any in the house but, as with most of the other reveals in the film, it takes a while for the audience to figure out the Kim’s plan. Ki-jung lovingly finds a peach, shaves off some of the fuzz, and flicks it at the housekeeper.

6 Don’t Call Me Sis

The Kim family finds out about the housekeeper’s secret and she pleads with them to let her husband stay and keep him a secret. Chung-sook, the mother of the Kim family, refuses to help her saying she will tell the Park family and laughs in her face.

The tables quickly turn when Moon-gwang and her husband find out the Kim family secret and when Chung-sook tries to plead with her, Moon-gwang acts exactly how Chung-sook had a minute ago, yelling at her not to call her sis.

5 The Ghost

It’s a creepy and somber scene, but also the audience knows something that most of the characters don’t know and because of that there’s something inherently funny about the misunderstanding. Da-song sneaks into the kitchen late at night to eat the rest of his birthday cake and sees an ominous figure emerging from the basement, assumes it is a ghost, and is shocked into a seizure. It’s not a funny moment, but the fact that the audience knows the true story of who the ghost is is darkly humorous.

4 Constantly Expanding The Plan

Ki-woo sets the plan in motion when he’s hired by the Park family to tutor their daughter. Slowly the film reveals the true plan of the Kim family as Ki-woo suggests his sister be hired, his sister suggests her father be hired, and the father suggests his wife be hired.

The plan is never laid out in full to the audience and there’s a certain tone of comedy connected to the Kim family’s ever-expanding plan being slowly revealed.

3 Da-Song’s Drawings

Mrs. Park shows Ki-woo her son’s drawings and says that he’s a brilliant and naturally talented artist. He asks if it’s an animal and she says obviously it’s a self-portrait and he has a Basquiat type of artistry, which is funny because Ki-woo has to cover his almost insulting question but Mrs. Park doesn’t address it. Ki-jung acts as an art therapist and analyzes the portrait, making things up as she goes after looking up some key terms on the internet.

2 Kims Hiding Under The Parks

When the Park family returns home early from their trip the entire Kim family has to hide out under their furniture to keep secret. The moment turns into a classic stereotypical scene from a comedic film or a sitcom as the Kims have to endure hiding and keeping quiet. Although out of context it’s a funny image, in context it symbolizes the Kim family as being beneath the Park family due to their class differences.

1 Climactic End

Although it’s a horrific ending, there’s something darkly humorous about how much escalates at the very end of the film. It all begins innocently as the Park family has a birthday party for their young son when everything goes wrong and multiple people are killed. The juxtaposition of the elegant party and the grisly attacks that keep escalating are so over the top that it gives the scene a darkly humorous tone.

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