It’s the best not just because it’s stunningly directed, has incredible performances, is darkly funny and wrapped up in commentary about social inequality so biting you risk losing a leg.

Parasite is all that and wildly entertaining — so entertaining you’ll forget you’re being served a social lesson at the same time.

Sometimes, beautifully made films that tick all the right boxes can get bogged down in their own worthiness that your attention starts to wane. Not Parasite.

It envelopes you so completely, you’ll never even consider running out to the bathroom or what you’re having for dinner afterwards. The only thing you’ll think about is this glorious movie you have the privilege of watching.

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From South Korean director Bong Joon-ho (Snowpiercer, Mother, Okja), the story centres on the Kim family — dad Ki-taek (frequent Bong collaborator Ki-taek), mum Choong-sook (Jang Hye-jin), son Ki-woo/Kevin (Choi Woo-shik) and daughter Ki-jung/Jessica (Park So-dam).

The Kims are basement dwellers, casual workers forsaken by the economic prosperity around them. They live in a sub-basement apartment and leech off the free wi-fi from a nearby cafe.

The sight of two university-aged kids squatting in the corner of the bathroom trying to get a wi-fi signal would unkindly classify them as “parasites”, the bottom feeders in an economy that needs them but would rather not pay any attention to them.

The family, resourceful as they are, barely get by on what they make from random, low-paying jobs.

Then one of Kevin’s friends tells him he’s moving overseas for school for a year and offers him his job as an English tutor to the daughter of a wealthy family, the Parks.

The Parks live in an exquisitely maintained architecturally designed house — the kind of house that makes your jaw drop at the clean lines, the textures, the space and its sense of order.

When the heavy wooden gate closes behind you, all you can hear is the rustling of the bamboo and the sun shining down. And the walk-in pantry is neatly stacked with delectable delights — it’s enough to make you salivate.

It’s a different, rarefied world, and the aesthetics of the Park house are designed to challenge an audience naturally inclined to like beautiful things and the people associated with them.

Patriarch Mr Park (Lee Sun-kyun) works as an investor of some sort, leaving his “simple” wife Yeon-kyo (Cho Yeo-jeong), sweet daughter Da-hye (Jung Ji-so) and eccentric young son Da-song (Jung Hyun-joon) at home.

The contrast between the Kims and the Parks couldn’t be more obvious, and the two families become entwined in a way that neither could foresee, leading to a genuinely shocking twist about midway through the film.

Telling the story through two families, neither of which are the villains really, is a clever framing device for what Bong wants to say.

The Parks, with all their means, are cloistered and a little bit superior, and the Kims, with their craftiness, cross several lines too. Even though the characters are rendered so vividly, it’s never them that are up for judgment, only the system that produced them.

As the movie progresses — and it does with so much momentum — their differences become starker and Parasite takes on a sharper edge.

There are several tonal shifts as it oscillates between satire, dark comedy and thriller, but Bong manages the changes expertly. The orchestral score by Jung Jae-il is a stunning accompaniment to Bong’s visuals.

Bong plays a lot with verticals and spatial positioning to highlight the different stratum in society. It’s not just that the Kims live in a semi-basement apartment, it’s that their apartment and those like it are also literally downhill from the wealthy parts of the city.

And pay attention to Bong’s use of stairs — even walking into the Parks’ home requires ascending two flights, as if they’re exalted.

The ending is a gut-punch — emotional and horrifying — and it’s one of the most memorable final acts you’ll ever watch.

Bong uses everything in his bag of cinematic tricks to craft a dazzling and devastating movie that is part modern-day parable and part family drama. Parasite will variously shock you, make you laugh (guiltily) and make you think.

Rating: 5/5

Parasite is in cinemas from Thursday, June 27

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