Visionary Director Bong Joon Ho, of Snowpiercer fame, is back again with a chilling tale of classism and the desire for more in South Korean society. The Kim family, consisting of a father, mother, daughter, and son, is the focus of the film. They are a struggling, lower-class family, that talks through the whole film about different jobs that the parents have worked in both the service industry and various small businesses.

Kim Ki-woo, played by Choi Woo-sik, is the son of the family, and his friend who attends college offers him the chance at a tutoring gig for a wealthy family, the Parks. He must lie and say he is in college in order to get the job, but his sister, Ki-jung played by Park So-dam, helps by forging documents. Once in, Ki-woo first gets his sister hired by saying there is a person with whom he shares a friend who is an advanced art student and can work with the son in the family. Once she is in, she sets up the family driver to be fired by leaving panties in the back seat, opening the door to her father. They then conspire to have the maid fired for hiding a tuberculosis diagnosis she does not actually have, utilizing her peach allergy. This gets the mom in place as the maid.

The whole family now employed by one family, they begin to enjoy themselves. Everything goes to hell, as expected, and there is some murder and attempted murder involved. The ending has Ki-woo and his mother moving up through the world and buying the house, so dad can now live with them once more, but it is just a letter he is writing to his father from the basement apartment where he is unlikely to ever leave, as the income inequality means he will NEVER have the money to buy that house.

First of all, this is the best film of 2019 and, though it probably will not win the Oscar, it should. Director Bong's vision is superbly acted, marked, and set from beginning to end. There are symbolic and physical markers between rich and poor, the Parks view the Kims the same way the Kims view cockroaches in their apartment at the film's opening, and the dreams of the Kims are constantly just out of reach and there is little hope for improvement.

On top of the wealth inequality, there is also plenty to talk about with this film. There is a massive amount of material for other social concerns. The Kims have always worked hard, but begin the film folding pizza boxes for a pizza place, because even those who have just a little privilege look down upon those with none. How humans treat each other, both to each other's faces and behind backs, is what allows for a cast system to perpetuate. Just watch it, any viewer will find important things to talk about.