At this past Sunday’s Academy Awards, Parasite made history by becoming the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture. The hope is that this win causes general audiences beyond discerning cinephiles to seek out Parasite, and in turn go out of their comfort zones and become more open to other foreign films. Thankfully, Baby Driver director Edgar Wright is here to recommend some other great Korean movies for people who love Parasite. Take a look:
If you loved Parasite and want to see more movies like it, or you don’t know where to start your dive into the rabbit hole of Korean cinema, Edgar Wright has you covered. The writer and director took to Twitter to open up a new cinematic world with a whole host of options as well as selling his followers on why many of these films are worth their time.
Edgar Wright starts with some of the past work of new Best Director winner and alcohol enthusiast Bong Joon-ho. Wright recommends the crime drama Memories of Murder, the monster movie The Host and horror comedy Mother. If you’re curious how Edgar Wright feels about these movies, he doesn’t mince words, calling them masterpieces.
While those who liked Parasite shouldn’t have a problem watching movies with subtitles, Edgar Wright also recommends Bong Joon-ho’s English language work. Bong Joon-ho directed Snowpiercer, starring Captain America performer Chris Evans, as well as the Netflix film Okja with Tilda Swinton. So for those Parasite fans with a Netflix account, you can queue up Okja right away to see some more of what goes on inside Bong Joon-ho’s brain.
Of course, Bong Joon-ho isn’t the only Korean director whose work is worth your time. Edgar Wright also stumps for Park Chan-wook. Take a look:
Park Chan-wook also has an impressive filmography. His most recent feature film was 2016’s The Handmaiden, which Edgar Wright calls a sumptuous masterpiece that should have received an Oscar nomination. Perhaps that’s the kind of thing that will change with Parasite’s win. Park Chan-wook’s revenge trilogy is also worth seeking out, according to Edgar Wright.
One of the films in that trilogy is Oldboy, which anecdotally seems to be one of the Korean films that has been the most noticed and permeated domestic film culture over the years. Ignore the 2013 Spike Lee remake and just check out the original.
Edgar Wright has a whole Twitter thread on the topic of Korean cinema with recommendations and links. So I’ll just highlight one more:
Edgar Wright had to mention Train to Busan, Yeon Sang-ho’s 2016 zombie movie. Edgar Wright calls it his favorite zombie film of the 21st century. This is rather noteworthy considering that Edgar Wright wrote and directed the 2004 zombie film and modern horror comedy classic Shaun of the Dead. So he’s a guy that knows a good zombie flick when he sees it.
This is just a small sampling of Korean movies, and of course there is a whole world of international cinema worth checking out. The hope is that Parasite’s win inspires more people to do just that. If it does, the achievements of Bong Joon-ho’s film will have far more meaning and resonance than its much-deserved four golden statues.
As for Edgar Wright, his next movie, Last Night in Soho, hits theaters on September 25. Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see what else you can look forward to this year.
