[Warning: This story contains spoilers for Parasite.]
“Those who’ve seen the film will instantly know what’s going on. I was ecstatic when I came up with this image during screenwriting.”
This early sketch leads to the thriller’s biggest twist, as Kim family matriarch Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin) heads downstairs to check in on fired housekeeper Moon-gwang (Lee Jung-eun) and finds her trying to access a secret basement.
“The desk of the most impoverished man and his belongings. Four years of his life ingrained in this desk.”
While the poor Kim family is above ground infiltrating the unassuming, wealthy Park family, Geun-sae (Park Myung-hoon), the husband of the Park family’s former housekeeper, lives trapped among his accumulated day-to-day detritus in his below-ground hideaway.
“Let’s just say for now that the red stuff on his face is hot sauce.”
While Bong is jokingly cagey about this sketch, viewers of the film will know exactly where that red splotch comes from.
“A drawing from the very early stages of screenwriting. Even I didn’t know what would unfold in that garden later on.”
This menacing sketch of a character with a pickax — which doesn’t end up in the film — suggests Bong knew early on that the Park family’s seemingly tranquil backyard would eventually descend into chaos and bloodshed.
This story first appeared in the Feb. 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
