L Bailey

Am fluctuating between 4 and 5 stars, but I would have given Parasite a 4 at most. Great story, acting and cinematography. Seemed to me much more like Highsmith than Murakami in tone and atmosphere, and I didn't at all see it as asking what is real vs not real, which is central to the critical reviews I read. Murakami is usually about that issue, but I don't see this evidently loose adaptation of one of his short stories that way. I see it mainly as a fascinating character study and a critique of Korea and other developed economies in which there is a huge wealth/income gap--and a very effective psychological thriller.