Bong Joon-ho’sParasitebroke boundaries and caused ridiculous controversy when it won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2020 (along with three more awards on the night). The film was immediately deemed to be a modern classic when it hit theaters, earning a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 99% and cementing Joon-ho as one of South Korea’s best working directors. As Letterboxd shows, movie fans are constantly re-watching the tense psychological thriller, and it will soon be easier than ever to re-experienceParasite, as the project has found a new streaming home for the summer.
Parasitewill begin streaming on Max (soon to be HBO Max, again) on June 1. Bong Joon-ho co-wrote the film with Han Jin-won, for which they both won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for their efforts. The movie features a star-studdedSouth Korean cast, which includes Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun,Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik, and Park So-dam. The movie’s tremendous critical and pop-cultural success also gave Joon-ho carte blanche for his future projects, which led to 2025’sMickey 17. Despite not being as well received by critics,Mickey 17(starring Robert Pattinson) was still a decent hit with fans.
‘Parasite’ Director Calls This Thriller “The Smartest Debut Film I’ve Seen in 10 Years”
Oddly enough, like Bong’s directorial debut, this 2023 horror film by his former protege prominently involves cruelty against dogs.
Parasiteis a brutal dissection and exploration of class disparity and discrimination. The film follows the Kim clan, who, after their son earns a job tutoring the wealthy Park family’s child, the rest of the Kim family begin trying to weasel their way into jobs within the Park household, exploiting them just to survive. As well as its dark and occasionally violent exploration of the above themes, the film also features Bong Joon-ho’s wickedly dark sense of humor, balancing the oppressively tense tone of the film with some guiltily humorous moments.
What Is Bong Joon-ho’s Next Movie?
Throughout his career, Bong Joon-ho has unpredictably bounced between genres and languages. His Korean-language thrillers are often considered to be his best, with the aforementionedParasite,Memories of Murder, andMotherparticular favorites among fans.But, Joon-ho also loves dystopian sci-fi, having directed 2013’sSnowpiercer, starring Chris Evans, along with the recentMickey 17.
Bong Joon-ho’s next project marks an even more left-field change for the director.The Valleyis the title of Joon-ho’s next movie, which is a new animated project that he will write and direct. What makes the project even more intriguing is that only one person is currently attached to star in the film, and it’s the eccentric cult director/actor, Werner Herzog. Joon-ho and Herzog is a pairing that feels obvious now that it has been said out loud. The most recent report revealed thatThe Valleyis halfway through production. But, being an animated film, it will naturally take a lot longer than the director’s live-action projects. The new movie is currently expected to be released in 2027, although this hasn’t officially been confirmed.
