The latest episode of Arquicast discusses the award-winning and groundbreaking South Korean film Parasite (2019). Director Bong Joon-ho invites us to reflect on the realities and stigmas of a social climate that, despite focusing on a specific culture, is representative of diverse urban contexts, such as those found in South America. Class struggle, after all, is a defining characteristic of modern societies, directly reflected in the spaces they inhabit. In this sense, *Parasite* offers a masterclass on how structural inequalities shape the quality of our built environment.
The film begins with a relatively simple premise: a low-income family sees a financial opportunity in working for a wealthy household, providing a range of services. However, to maximize their earnings, they must manipulate the situation to their advantage by keeping up appearances—forging documents, hiding their familial ties, and lying about their qualifications. Nor do they seem to care about the harm they might cause to others, so consumed are they by their own struggle for survival.
