Song Kang-ho, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam
Lee Seon-kyun, Jo Yeo-jung
Director Bong Joon-ho (Okja, Snowpiercer) has announced the cast of his newest film called Parasite, and contrary to what the title would suggest (not to mention the director’s own history with sci-fi and fantasy), it’ll be a family drama with no parasitic monsters of any kind. So if you were hoping for a land version of The Host, think again. The director stated that the movie will not be horror or sci-fi, and no parasites appear in it. Instead, it explores two families that are “a little strange” and all the relationships between them.
The ensemble cast will be led by longtime collaborator Song Kang-ho, which marks the fourth time the actor and director will work together, following Snowpiercer, The Host, and Memories of Murder. Song will be the head of one household, which includes son Choi Woo-shik (Okja, The Package) and daughter Park So-dam (The Priests, Cinderella and the Four Knights).
The second family will be led by Lee Seon-kyun (A Special Lady, This Week My Wife Will Have an Affair), who will be married to Jo Yeo-jung (Working Girl, Perfect Wife), and they’ll have a son and daughter as well who have yet to be cast. I like these matchups, and am especially looking forward to Song Kang-ho and his two kids, ’cause that is one talented family.
The families are set up to mirror each other on purpose, but all we’re told for now is that they “seem similar but are different, and seem different but are similar.” Well that’s helpful. Through their stories, the film sets out to portray our contemporary lives.
Parasite will shoot this year, but we’ll have to wait until 2019 for its theatrical release. That is EONS away for a movie with no CG monster, is all I’m sayin’.