Parasite (2019) ***

Something about Bong Joon-ho's films just doesn't fully take ahold of me. As with the other two films I've seen by him, The Host (2006) and Snowpiercer (2013) (both of which I awarded the same star rating as this film), I found myself admiring the craft of Parasite (2019), but not connecting with a single character. I'm not sure what it is that I'm missing that everyone seems to have latched on to, since the film has received overwhelmingly universal praise. That's not to say I disliked Parasite in any way (I would definitely say it's the best of the three Bong films I've seen), just that I wasn't particularly impressed with it or its message (honestly I'm not even sure what it was). It starts out great, but I found the second (apparently shocking?) half weaker. A fine film but—like Bong's other two films that I've seen—not one I feel the need to revisit.