Sample report · 9 instruments
Parasite (2019): The complete report
Example analysis of Parasite (2019), screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won. Shown for demonstration and commentary. It reads a finished film to show the format, so anything it flags may well be deliberate; on your own draft, treat each flag as a question.
How to explore this report
Click a character in any panel to follow them through the others. Drag across the emotion strip to focus a range of scenes; the charts that run along the script follow the same range.
A bar at the foot of the screen says what is selected. Esc clears it, and the address bar keeps the selection, so the link opens this same view.
Also as a sample: Nope (2022)
Jump toEmotional Rhythm Strip
01PlutchikInterpretive
Emotional Rhythm Strip
Is my script dragging? If so, where does the emotional energy flatten out?
Tension leads 63 of 158 scenes
The arc: rise, plunge, fall. The emotional line opens on amusement and empathy for the struggling Kim family, which sets the darkly comic tone. Tension climbs as their scheme unfolds, with moments of triumph and anxiety along the way, then drops into dread and grief at the violent climax. After it, the film settles into sadness and hopelessness, and stays there.
Across the whole script
- Tension
- Anxiety
- Dread
- Amusement
- Sadness
- Hope
- Surprise
- Fear
- OtherNine more emotions, which lead the other 22 scenes: warmth, relief, empathy, grief, joy, disgust, longing, triumph and wonder.
Audience emotion, scene by scene
How to read this
Each row is one of the eight emotions felt most across the script, and each column is a scene. The taller the bar, the more strongly the audience is expected to feel that emotion there. When a scene is led by an emotion without a row of its own, the last row, Other, draws that lead. The line underneath is the scene's overall intensity.
Select a scene to read it below. With a mouse, drag across the strip to zoom into a range; in a full report, the other scene charts follow. On a phone, tap or drag along the line. From the keyboard, focus the strip and step through scenes with the arrow keys.
A small triangle over a scene marks genre drift: the scene plays a different emotion from the one the genre leads an audience to expect.
Each emotion, scene by scene
Tension
Anxiety
Dread
Amusement
Sadness
Hope
Surprise
Fear
Other
Line: overall intensityGenre drift
Scene 1 selectedINT. SEMI-BASEMENT - DAY
Amusement leads, at moderate intensity and a medium pace.
The Kim family desperately searches for a Wi-Fi signal in their semi-basement apartment.
NO. Not you too 'iptime.'
BOOYAH!
Get up closer.
- Amusement: moderate
- Empathy: moderate
- Tension: weak
The script mixes dark comedy with suspense, and by the time the tone turns to horror and tragedy the audience is already complicit in the Kims' schemes.
Scenes 69 to 100 are the busiest stretch: amusement, tension, dread and disgust all arrive at once. The peak comes later, in scene 131, the most intense single scene. Sc. 69–100, 131
The Kims' triumphant infiltration runs straight into their violent downfall, and the fall hurts because the climb was so much fun.
Scenes 132 to 158 stay in a quiet sadness and hopelessness, and in hindsight the whole film reads as a tragedy. Sc. 132–158
Dramatic irony drives most of the anxiety. The audience knows more than the Parks and keeps waiting for the Kims to be found out.
Plays as thriller and drama, and partly as comedy and horror
Darkly comedic social thriller with tragic drama elements.
ThrillerStrong fit
- High-stakes deception plot with constant risk of exposure
- Sustained suspense sequences (e.g., the family hiding under the table, the flood escape)
- Violent, shocking climax with multiple deaths
- Use of dramatic irony to create audience anxiety
- The long comic sequence with the family under the table (scene 93) leans into farce, and the thriller tension softens for a while.
DramaStrong fit
- Class conflict and social inequality, explored at length
- Complex, flawed family dynamics
- Tragic character arcs and a sombre, reflective ending
- Focus on character-driven storytelling
- The graphic violence and sustained suspense are more intense than a typical drama.
ComedyPartial fit
- Darkly comedic situations (e.g., the 'Jessica' persona, the peach fuzz scheme)
- Satirical portrayal of the wealthy Park family
- Witty, sharp dialogue
- Farcical elements in the home invasion sequence
- The humour is often undercut by the dread underneath it and by the tragic ending.
HorrorPartial fit
- The discovery of the secret bunker and its inhabitant is a classic horror reveal
- Graphic, shocking violence (the garden party massacre)
- A pervasive sense of dread and claustrophobia in the second half
- The 'ghost' story and the blinking lights create an eerie atmosphere
- Nothing here is supernatural: the horror is psychological and social, and the pacing is more deliberate than a typical horror film.
Two scenes bring amusement where the genre expects tension
- Sc. 69
The family's drunken celebration has tension underneath, but it plays mainly as broad comedy, and the thriller's pressure lets up for a moment.
- Sc. 93
The Parks' intimate sofa scene, overheard by the Kims from under the table, plays as cringe comedy and briefly defuses the suspense.
For the next draft
- With the Kims under the table in scene 93, the Parks' banter plays as comedy on top of the dread built in the scenes before it, and every extra line of it lets a little more tension out. Where in that banter does the audience need to remember the Kims are inches away?
- The closing fantasy (scenes 154–157) plays Ki-Woo's hope as sincere warmth, though the audience knows it is out of reach. The warmth consoles, which leaves scene 158, where he admits the plan is impossible, to carry the irony alone. Should one detail in the fantasy stop the audience settling into it?
- Only once, in her outburst in scene 69, does Ki-Jung's guard fully drop, and the script never goes back to that vulnerability before her death in scene 131. Do you want the moment to stand alone?
02Murray SmithInterpretive
Structure of Sympathy
Is my protagonist compelling? Is the audience rooting for the people I want them to root for?
The audience roots for all five, none of them strongly
How to read this
Murray Smith's three levels of engagement. Recognition: the audience can pick the character out and remember them. Alignment: we follow the story at their side and get into their head. Allegiance: we are on their side.
Each level is the model's estimate, given as a band. A level that is the same for every character is given once, under the rows. Select a row to follow that character through every panel; Esc clears it.
Allegiance is the same for all five:Moderate
Ki-Woo has the strongest presence of the five and is the main point of view. After his brain injury the voice-over keeps him close, but what he feels gets harder to read, and alignment passes to Ki-Tek and his life underground.
- Sc. 131, 74
Ki-Tek's murder of Dong-Ik in scene 131 is the most violent turn in the film, yet his allegiance line dips only slightly there; it falls further at scene 74, when the secret room is exposed. The film keeps him pitiable.
Ki-Jung gains the most sympathy by the end; Yon-Kyo loses the most
Allegiance by scene, 1–158
How to read this
One chart per character, all on the same scale and the same scenes, so their heights compare and a scene lines up down the column. Above the dashed neutral line the audience is on the character's side; below it, against them.
Dots are the scenes the analysis measured; the larger dot is the last. Ochre rings mark the shifts listed under the charts. A shaded band is the range of scenes picked elsewhere in the report. Select a name to follow that character through every panel.
- Sc. 13
Ki-Woo: sympathy rises as he cleverly secures the tutoring job and kisses Da-Hae.
- Sc. 74
Ki-Woo: sympathy slips when the secret room is exposed and the family's scam is revealed.
- Sc. 109
Ki-Woo: the audience stays with him as he despairs in the evacuation centre and clings to the viewing stone.
- Sc. 131
Ki-Jung: sympathy spikes when she is stabbed and dies in the garden.
- Sc. 131
Ki-Tek: sympathy dips only slightly after he murders Dong-Ik with the axe.
- Sc. 150
Ki-Tek: sympathy recovers slightly as he sends Morse code letters and mourns Ki-Jung.
Ki-Woo is seen from the inside, Yon-Kyo only from the outside
Ki-Woo knows what the audience knows. Sympathy holds, apart from a dip at scene 127, and ends sympathetic.
- Presence
- Strong
- Point of view
- Strong
- Inner life
- Strong
Recognition. Resourceful Wi-Fi hunter in the opening, immediately memorable. Charismatic impostor as tutor 'Kevin' with a pulse-taking technique. Carries the viewing stone as a symbolic gift and clings to it even after the flood.
Alignment. POV through his eyes in many scenes. Voice-over reveals his plans and inner thoughts. We witness his despair in the flood and evacuation centre.
Allegiance. Rootable underdog striving for family's survival. His romance with Da-Hae adds charm and humanity. His violent attempt on Mun-Kwang is a dark turn that tests allegiance.
Six moral cues that shape how we judge Ki-Woo
- Helps father with scams out of loyalty to his family.
- Defends family from the drunk man urinating on their window.
- Feels guilt and cannot bring himself to kill Mun-Kwang.
- Tries to rescue father by deciphering Morse code and making a plan.
- Cares for his sister Ki-Jung and grieves her death.
- Shows remorse and a desire to make things right after brain injury.
For the next draft
- Through Act Three the audience watches Ki-Tek's fall from outside, with little access to what he thinks, so the axe murder in scene 131 arrives as a shock rather than a decision. Do you want the audience to see the decision forming?
- Yon-Kyo never learns she was deceived, and her allegiance line sinks to its lowest in scene 131, the scene in which her husband is killed. Do you want the audience to feel for her at that moment?
03Graph theoryStructural
Character Topology
Which characters hold my story together, and who is drifting at the edge of it?
An ensemble: 13 characters share the story
52 of the 78 possible pairs share at least one scene.
Cast map
How to read this
Each circle is a character. The more of the cast someone shares scenes with, the larger their circle and the nearer the centre they sit. A group shares a colour and a stretch of the ring. A line joins two characters who appear in a scene together, and the more scenes they share, the heavier the line.
Select a character on the map, or in the lists below, to light up everyone they share a scene with and open their details. Select them again, or press Esc, to clear.
Zoom with the buttons, a pinch, or ⌘/Ctrl and scroll; once zoomed in, drag to pan. On a small screen only the most connected names are shown until you zoom in. Every character is also in the list under the map.
Ki-Woo and Ki-Jung are the main bridges between the Kim and Park clusters. His romance with Da-Hae and her art therapy with Da-Song are how the Kims first get in.
Mun-Kwang is the hidden bridge to the underground. Her removal exposes the secret room and sets off the collapse of both families.
The network is dense inside each family and hangs on four bridges between them: Ki-Woo, Yon-Kyo, Ki-Jung and Mun-Kwang. Threaten one and the balance goes.
Ki-Jung shares scenes with all twelve others
Placed by how many of the other twelve characters each one shares a scene with.
How to read this
Degree counts the other characters someone shares at least one scene with; the figure at the end of each row is that count.
Betweenness is the model's estimate of how often a character is the link between two others who rarely meet. It is stated as a band, strong, moderate or weak, and the dot sits in that band's third of the line.
Select a row to focus that character on the map and open their details.
Five more characters, each sharing scenes with eight or fewer
Three groups, joined by four bridge characters
Kim Family
Park Family
Servants & Outsiders
| Bridge character | Also shares scenes with |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| |
|
04Green & BrockExperimental
Narrative Transportation
Where is a reader likely to surface from the story, and which scenes let their attention wander?
The script steers attention firmly, strong on all four measures
The model expects most readers to track it closely, scene after scene.
The four are transportation (how completely a reader gets lost in the story), causal linearity (how tightly each scene follows from the one before), visual specificity (how concrete the imagery is) and audience synchrony (how alike different viewers would follow it).
Audience synchrony is experimental. It is the model's guess, from the pages alone, at how alike different viewers would follow the story; nobody's responses were measured. How the instruments are classified
The script holds attention with a tight causal chain. Each deception that works sets up the next, riskier one.
Visual specificity is high. The images are concrete and often grotesque (the flooding toilet, the peach fuzz, the bloody viewing stone), and they keep the reader in the story's physical world.
The high synchrony estimate rests on the shared suspense of the family hiding and the flood escape, the kind of sequence most audiences follow in step.
The main risk to transportation is the jump from comedy to horror. The jolt is deliberate, and for some readers it still breaks the spell for a moment.
Four scenes risk breaking immersion, the first at scene 26
- Sc. 26
The 'Belt of Trust' and the hiring schemes are explained in detail. It is clever exposition, and still exposition: momentum slows a little.
- Sc. 93
The Parks' long, farcical intimate conversation is loaded with theme. It also lets out the tension, and the suspense can slacken for a while.
- Sc. 109
The cut from the flood to the calm of the evacuation centre is a tonal shift the story needs, though the sudden stillness can cost a little drive.
- Sc. 132
In Act Three, Ki-Woo's voice-over and the letter format change how the story is told, and some readers may lose the scene-by-scene immersion.
05Grice's maximsInterpretive
Dialogue Autopsy
Is my dialogue too on-the-nose? Which characters all sound like the same person?
Strong subtext that deepens as the script goes on
- Subtext
- Strong
- How much of the meaning is left implied.
- On the nose
- About one line in three
- Lines that say exactly what they mean. Fewer is better.
How to read this
The line follows how much each scene leaves unsaid: high where characters talk around what they mean, low where they state it outright. Hover a point to see how many of that scene's exchanges are on the nose.
The ticks under the line mark the scenes of the flagged lines quoted in the next section. A tick says where a flagged line comes from, not how much subtext the whole scene has.
A shaded stretch is the range of scenes chosen elsewhere in the report.
The scenes of the five flagged lines quoted below: 14, 21, 53, 69 and 155.
Class lives in the subtext. Talk about smell and basements carries the theme, and nobody names class politics until Chung-Sook's "kind because rich" outburst.
Ki-Tek's voice is a slow burn. His "no plan" monologue in scene 109 turns his Act One optimism inside out, and the murder is set up by small humiliations alone. Sc. 109
The 'Belt of Trust' sequence hides manipulation under polite small talk and rambling. Ki-Tek's 'companionship' monologue passes for real feeling.
Ki-Jung keeps her forged identity up with icy minimalism. Her deflections to the Parks never over-explain the backstory, and the gap between what we know and what she performs is where the tension comes from.
Five lines say too much, two each from Ki-Woo and Yon-Kyo
- Sc. 14
Exposition dump: Yon-Kyo gives an armchair diagnosis of Da-Song outright, and the audience is left nothing to discover.
YON-KYOHe has trouble focusing. ADHD. We signed him up for the Cub Scouts hoping the discipline would help, but he's become an even bigger weirdo. Now he's obsessed with Indians--
- Sc. 21
On-the-nose manipulation: the fake psychoanalysis explains out loud what the drawing already shows.
KI-JUNGDid something happen to Da-Song when he was in first grade? This lower section is what's called the 'schizophrenia zone' in psychology. It contains clues about the mental state of the child.
- Sc. 53
Motivation broadcast. Yon-Kyo spells out her whole plan to the person who engineered it, and the dramatic irony goes flat.
YON-KYOI'm not even going to mention the tuberculosis to Mun-Kwang. I'll come up with a completely unrelated reason. Let her go quietly.
- Sc. 69
Overly literal social commentary that makes explicit what the audience already understands from the family's situation.
KI-WOOIf you think about it, nowadays people barely see their in-laws anyway. How many times do you think families see each other after their kids get married?
- Sc. 155
Theme announcement in voice-over. It spells out the whole deferred dream, which leaves the bittersweet telescope image little to do.
KI-WOOI'm going to make a lot of money. First I'll need to go to college. Then I'll get a job and get married. But ultimately, I want to get rich.
Across the script, the kinds that recur most are emotional declarations, motivation statements, exposition dumps and theme announcements.
For the next draft
- In the tutoring interview Yon-Kyo spells out Da-Song's diagnosis and her own reading of it, while Da-Hae's silent reaction already carries the scene and the audience is about to meet Da-Song anyway. If she could keep only one of those lines, which would it be?
- Ki-Woo's voice-over in Act Three (scenes 132–158) sometimes repeats what the images have just shown; in scene 155 it spells out the whole deferred dream and leaves the telescope image little to do. Where the two say the same thing, which would you cut?
- During the pep talk, Ki-Woo grabs Da-Hae's wrist and then tells her 'I'm here to help you score', so gesture and line run the same con twice. What does the line add that the wrist grab has not already shown?
Five voices, no two alike
With the names covered, a reader could still tell each of these voices apart. Ki-Tek, Chung-Sook and Ki-Jung leave the most unsaid; Ki-Woo and Yon-Kyo say more outright.
Simple vocabulary; rambling, folksy, occasionally philosophical.
- Subtext
- Strong
Keeps saying What's the plan? / I have a plan. / Don't cross the line.
- Occasional preachy monologues reveal theme directly.
- Emotional register shifts too abruptly from passive to violent in Act Three.
KI-TEKSon, if one seeks Wi-Fi-- One must reach into the heavens. Up.
Simple vocabulary; clipped, blunt, sarcastic.
- Subtext
- Strong
Keeps saying You get it? / Shut up
- Occasional on-the-nose social commentary in Act Three.
- Sarcasm sometimes spells out the subtext too clearly.
CHUNG-SOOKNot 'also kindhearted.' She's kindhearted because she's rich. You get it?
Moderate vocabulary; confident, persuasive, smooth.
- Subtext
- Moderate
Keeps saying What's the plan? / Metaphorical. / Symbolic.
- Voice-over monologues in Act Three become overly explanatory.
- Tone in early scenes is slightly generic 'earnest son'.
KI-WOOI don't consider this a crime. No. Because I plan on going to this school next year.
Moderate vocabulary; staccato, cold, deadpan.
- Subtext
- Strong
Keeps saying Shut up
- Cold demeanour occasionally spelled out by parentheticals rather than dialogue.
KI-JUNGThe smell won't go away unless we leave this place.
Simple vocabulary; rambling, breathless, ditsy.
- Subtext
- Moderate
Keeps saying I don't care about papers. / You know what I mean? / So simple.
- Naivety is spelled out explicitly in dialogue.
- Some lines function as exposition delivery for the Parks' backstory.
YON-KYOExcuse my bluntness, but I just don't see the point of hiring someone unless he's as utterly outstanding as Min-Hyuk, you know?
06AltmanInterpretive
Narrative Architecture
Does my story stay focused, or does the narration wander away from the people the audience is following?
Single focus: Ki-Woo frames the story, Ki-Tek is followed longest
Ki-Woo holds the first and last stretches. In between, the story passes among four characters, and Ki-Tek is followed for 74 scenes to Ki-Woo’s 62. The analysis still reads one protagonist, and is confident of it. Dark comedy, thriller and social satire usually run on single focus, and so does this script.
Following map · 158 scenes
How to read this
Each block is a following unit: a run of scenes where the story stays with one character or group. Units that follow Ki-Woo are in the dark colour, Ki-Tek’s in the lighter one, and everyone else’s in grey. Pale gaps are scenes no unit covers.
The rows below give each character or group a line of its own, with the number of scenes it is followed for. Choose a row to pick out that character; Esc clears it. With a mouse you can also choose a block in the band.
Whole script
Attention moves from one Kim to the next and never leaves the family, a 'hive mind' pattern. That is how a single-focus script can follow Ki-Tek for longer than its protagonist.
Ki-Woo bookends the narrative: the Wi-Fi hunt at the start, the telescope vigil at the end. That frame, more than his scene count, is what makes him the primary followee.
The infiltration scheme provides natural metonymic hand-offs: each new job placement transfers audience attention to the next family member being inserted.
The brief leakage scenes of the Parks alone are placed to build dread. We know what they don't, which gives dramatic irony without breaking alignment.
After the massacre the script moves into Ki-Woo's voice-over and point of view (scenes 132–158), so the story Ki-Tek carried through the middle ends in Ki-Woo's head. Sc. 132–158
Four notes on the genre fit
Ki-Woo frames the story and is the audience's way into the Park house, so the focus reads as his. The map shows Ki-Tek followed for longer, though: 74 scenes to Ki-Woo's 62.
The family acts as one, which gives an 'ensemble within a single focus': we follow the Kim unit as one organism.
The brief leakage scenes showing the Parks alone are functional (establishing the target) and don't undermine the Kim-centric perspective.
The closing voice-over moves into Ki-Woo's head, which gives the genre the moral and emotional anchor it expects at the end.
Ten of eleven changes of focus are spatial hand-offs
The map above shows eleven changes of focus; the analysis describes six of them.
How to read this
A change of focus is where the story stops following one character and starts following another. Altman names three kinds. A spatial hand-off (metonymic) passes attention between characters who share a space. A thematic cut (metaphoric) links two stretches by likeness or contrast. An abrupt jump (hyperbolic) has no bridge at all.
Quiet scenes are the ones a coverage reader might call dead: little action, little plot. They are listed because they keep the audience close to a character. Focus leakage is a scene without the character, or characters, the story follows.
- Sc. 16
Ki-Woo recruits Ki-Jung at the hair salon; attention shifts to her preparation and interview.
Ki-Woo to Ki-Jung, a spatial hand-off
- Sc. 27
After Ki-Jung plants the driver trap, we cut to Ki-Tek practising at the Mercedes dealership. The scheme passes to the father.
Ki-Jung to Ki-Tek, a spatial hand-off
- Sc. 57
Ki-Tek hands Dong-Ik 'The Care' card; we follow Chung-Sook as she becomes the new housekeeper.
Ki-Tek to Chung-Sook, a spatial hand-off
- Sc. 69
The family gathers in the living room; attention centres on Ki-Tek during the drunken celebration and his cockroach outburst.
Chung-Sook to Ki-Tek, a spatial hand-off
- Sc. 101
After escaping the mansion, the family walks through the flood; Ki-Woo becomes the emotional centre at the evacuation gym.
Ki-Tek to Ki-Woo, a spatial hand-off
- Sc. 132
Post-massacre, the narrative shifts to Ki-Woo's hospital POV and voice-over, a temporal and subjective jump.
Ki-Tek to Ki-Woo, a thematic cut
Three quiet scenes earn their keep
- Sc. 68
Ki-Tek alone in the sauna, turning an hourglass. A quiet scene that keeps us inside his taste of stolen luxury (the steam, the Evian) before the storm.
Following Ki-Tek
- Sc. 104
Ki-Woo retrieves the viewing stone from the flood. No dialogue, little action. The stone already means luck and will soon mean violence, so the beat holds.
Following Ki-Woo
- Sc. 139
Ki-Woo climbs the mountain with his telescope. A quiet scene of watching. His patience holds the alignment, and the audience waits with him.
Following Ki-Woo
23 scenes without Ki-Woo, eight of them described
Sc. 62–68, 110–112, 114, 116–125, 128, 130
- Sc. 62
Da-Song checks the sky from the garden with his walkie-talkie. A brief cutaway that sets up the camping trip.
Shows Da-Song
- Sc. 63
The Park family prepares for camping. Dong-Ik teases Da-Hae. Yon-Kyo gives Chung-Sook dog instructions.
Shows Dong-Ik, Yon-Kyo, Da-Hae
- Sc. 110
Morning after the storm. Yon-Kyo and Dong-Ik wake in the living room and check on Da-Song.
Shows Yon-Kyo, Dong-Ik
- Sc. 111
Dong-Ik checks on Da-Song in the teepee. Brief, functional.
Shows Dong-Ik
- Sc. 112
Yon-Kyo calls Jessica to invite her to the party.
Shows Yon-Kyo
- Sc. 114
The Parks plan the birthday party. Da-Hae excitedly offers to invite Kevin.
Shows Yon-Kyo, Dong-Ik, Da-Hae
- Sc. 116
Yon-Kyo instructs Chung-Sook on party setup. Shared scene but attention is on Yon-Kyo's absurd 'Crane Formation' directive.
Shows Yon-Kyo, Chung-Sook
- Sc. 118
Yon-Kyo shops and makes phone calls while Ki-Tek carries bags. Attention is on Yon-Kyo's obliviousness.
Shows Yon-Kyo, Ki-Tek
Beats spread evenly across three acts, with the climax at scene 131
Beats across 158 scenes
How to read this
Each dot is a beat, placed at its scene, with its scene number above it where there is room. The larger the dot, the bigger the surprise the analysis reads in that moment. The upright marks are the act breaks, and the acts are named beneath.
- Sc. 1–15, 16–109 +3
Under the genre shifts sits a plain three-act shape. Act One (scenes 1–15) is a caper comedy. Act Two (scenes 16–109) turns the con into psychological suspense. Act Three (scenes 110–158) becomes horror and tragedy. The false victory at the midpoint (scene 51) is a textbook turn. The climax (scene 131) is shockingly violent, and every part of it has been set up. The resolution is a fantasy sequence, and it is meant to disappoint: Ki-Woo will never buy that house.
Twelve beats, scene by scene
- Sc. 5
Inciting incident. Min-Hyuk offers Ki-Woo the tutoring job. The infiltration starts here.
- Sc. 15
First act turn. Ki-Woo plants the seed for Ki-Jung's hiring. The solo con becomes a family operation.
- Sc. 26
Event. Ki-Jung gets the driver fired and suggests her 'uncle's driver'. The con escalates.
- Sc. 51
Midpoint. The hot sauce 'bloody napkin' finale completes the housekeeper's removal. All four Kims are now employed. False victory.
- Sc. 69
Event. The Kim family indulges in the empty mansion. Class tensions surface in their drunken conversation. The doorbell rings.
- Sc. 74
Low point. Mun-Kwang discovers the family's secret and records them on her phone. The entire scheme unravels.
- Sc. 101
Event. The family returns to find their semi-basement flooded. The physical destruction mirrors their collapsing plan.
- Sc. 109
Second act turn. Ki-Tek sets out his 'no plan' philosophy. His worldview has changed, and Act Three runs on that change.
- Sc. 127
Event. Ki-Woo tries to kill Mun-Kwang with the viewing stone but is attacked by Kun-Sae. There is no way back from here.
- Sc. 131
Climax. The garden party massacre: Kun-Sae stabs Ki-Jung, Ki-Tek murders Dong-Ik. The class war turns literal.
- Sc. 141
Resolution. Ki-Tek's Morse code letter reveals he is trapped in the basement. He has taken Kun-Sae's place under the house.
- Sc. 158
Resolution. Ki-Woo's fantasy of buying the house falls back to reality. The plan is impossible. The ending is circular.
Eight motifs recur, and six scene pairs rhyme
Motif map
How to read this
Each row is a recurring image, object or phrase, and each mark a scene where it appears; a run of consecutive scenes draws as one bar. The list under the map gives every scene.
With a mouse, point at a mark to see its scenes and slugline. With a keyboard, Tab moves from one motif to the next, and the arrow keys move along a motif's marks.
- The Viewing Stone (Suseok)
- Sc. 4, 7, 61, 104, 109, 123, 127, 129, 154
- A 'luck and money' gift that becomes a weapon, then a burden. It is false hope made solid, and by scene 127 the promise of moving up has turned lethal.
- Smell / Basement Smell
- Sc. 60–61, 93, 121, 131
- The olfactory marker of class. Da-Song notices 'same smell' on the Kims; Dong-Ik describes it as 'old radish pickle / dirty rag.' The smell crosses the 'line' that behaviour cannot. It comes to a head when Dong-Ik holds his nose at Kun-Sae's odour, and Ki-Tek kills him.
- The Line
- Sc. 56, 93, 124
- Dong-Ik's obsession with people 'crossing the line.' Ki-Tek tests this boundary again and again. Class boundaries here are unwritten codes, and they are enforced with violence.
- Stairs / Vertical Movement
- Sc. 8–9, 12, 52, 60, 73, 91, 93, 100, 126, 143, 157
- Class hierarchy as climbing and descending. The Parks live at the top of a hill; the Kims climb up to work and are washed down by rain. The basement bunker is the lowest 'below.' Ki-Woo's fantasy ends with Ki-Tek 'walking up the stairs' into sunlight.
- Windows / Frames
- Sc. 1–2, 4, 10, 61, 69, 89, 93, 102, 139, 149, 157
- The semi-basement window is urinated on and flooded through; the mansion has floor-to-ceiling windows onto the garden. Frames separate the Kims from the world they covet. The living room window reflection reveals the 'ghost.' Ki-Woo's telescope is the last window of all: he can look, never enter.
- Peaches
- Sc. 34–37, 47, 60, 78
- Mun-Kwang's allergy, weaponised by the Kims. Peach fuzz, soft and luxurious, becomes the tool that removes her from the house.
- Morse Code / Blinking Lights
- Sc. 87–88, 107–108, 139–141, 150
- Kun-Sae's 'welcome home' ritual becomes Ki-Tek's only line to the outside world. The motion-sensor lights turn out to be a man in the basement, the parasite signalling to the host. In the end it is the one thread left between father and son.
- Rain / Flood
- Sc. 55, 69, 75–76, 93, 98–103, 106
- The storm that ruins the camping trip also floods the semi-basement. The rain falls on both families and lands differently: the Parks enjoy the 'clean air' while the Kims lose everything.
The viewing stone is the most complete motif. It goes from gift to weapon to burden, and in Ki-Woo's fantasy it is found in a clean stream, which hints at renewal.
- Sc. 56
The 'line' motif arrives late (scene 56) but colours every class interaction before it. Dong-Ik keeps invoking 'crossing the line', so his death at Ki-Tek's hands feels inevitable.
- Sc. 87
The Morse code/blinking lights reveal (scene 87) changes every earlier appearance of the motion-sensor lights. What looked like technology was human labour all along: the parasite performing for the host.
- Sc. 33, 35–37 +2
The peach allergy is a tightly contained motif with clear setup (scene 33), execution (scenes 35–37, 47), and payoff (scene 78). No loose ends.
The rain/flood opposition is the film's most explicit class commentary. One storm: the Parks lose a camping trip, the Kims lose their home.
- Sc. 89
The 'ghost' echo (scenes 89 → 131) is slightly undermined by Yon-Kyo's exposition dump. The information is necessary but the delivery is the script's most overt explanatory moment.
Four thematic oppositions: two lean one way, two are evenly split
Both at once in scenes 69, 93, 100 and 131.
The film's basic spatial split. The Parks occupy the sunlit hilltop; the Kims live in the semi-basement and end up in the secret bunker. The garden party massacre (scene 131) is where the two worlds collide. Below has more scenes than above, 24 to 16: the story goes down into the bunker and stays there.
Both at once in scenes 69, 80 and 109.
The Kims plan carefully (the 'Belt of Trust'), and chaos breaks out when the basement couple appears. Ki-Tek's 'no plan' philosophy (scene 109) is where the theme turns: he stops planning because the system leaves him no hope. Planning runs the story up to scene 57; from scene 69 on, chaos does.
Both at once in scenes 69 and 131.
Chung-Sook's line 'She's kindhearted because she's rich' sums up this opposition. The Parks can afford kindness; the Kims' cruelty comes from precarity. Neither side is given the moral high ground. Money shapes behaviour in both houses.
Both at once in scenes 60, 69, 93 and 131.
Two families in a parasitic, or symbiotic, relationship. The Kims' strength is that they stick together; the Parks' weakness is that they notice nothing. The balance is nearly even, because the film paints both. The garden party (scene 131) destroys both families at once.
Six echoes: three mirrors, two inversions and one setup and payoff
- Sc. 4 → 61
The drunk man urinating outside the semi-basement window. First time, Min-Hyuk chases him away. Second time, Ki-Woo attacks with the viewing stone. The Kims have taken on the violence they once left to others.
Mirror
- Sc. 13 → 19
Ki-Woo takes Da-Hae's wrist to feel her pulse as a tutoring tactic. Later Da-Hae takes Ki-Woo's wrist. Now she is the one pursuing him, and the 'test confidence' technique has become seduction.
Inversion
- Sc. 89 → 131
Yon-Kyo tells the story of Da-Song seeing a 'ghost' in the kitchen (Kun-Sae emerging from the basement). At the party Da-Song sees Kun-Sae again. The ghost is back, and this time there is blood.
Setup and payoff
- Sc. 51 → 131
The 'bloody napkin' fake-out uses hot sauce on a tissue. At the party, real blood sprays from Ki-Jung's chest and Dong-Ik's neck. The Kims' theatrical violence becomes literal, and what was a con is now a massacre.
Mirror
- Sc. 5 → 100
Min-Hyuk says 'I trust you' to Ki-Woo. After the basement disaster, Ki-Woo asks 'What would Min-Hyuk do?' His friend's trust has led to catastrophe. The recommendation that started everything ends in ruin.
Inversion
- Sc. 109 → 153
Ki-Tek's 'no plan' speech in the gym. Ki-Woo's final letter: 'Today I made a plan.' The son rejects the father's nihilism, but his plan is a fantasy. The false hope goes round again.
Mirror
For the next draft
- Da-Song's Morse-code decoding (scene 108) pays off a Scout detail planted only shortly before, so the audience is handed the connection instead of making it. Could the Scout detail sit in one of Da-Song's earlier scenes?
- Nothing sets up the German family who replace the Parks (scene 149), and they carry the idea of an indifferent cycle starting over on their own. Is that jolt what you want the audience to feel?
- After his surgery (scene 132) Ki-Woo is said to have changed, but the script barely traces the change, so his final plan can read as real hope or as brain damage. Which reading do you want the audience to leave with?
07DeweyInterpretive
Character Depth MRI
Does my character change, or do they just do things until the plot ends?
One of five characters completes the circuit
Ki-Tek, Chung-Sook and Mun-Kwang act without reflecting and Ki-Woo acts without taking in what happens to them.
How to read this
Each strip is Dewey's experience circuit in order: habit, the shock that disrupts it, weighing what to do, acting, undergoing what follows, and reflecting on it. Three blocks lit is strong, two moderate, one weak.
A dashed ochre outline marks the phase where the diagnosis says the circuit breaks. When that phase still has two or three blocks lit, the script shows it and the break is narrow. A weak habit is not a break: it means the character is not stuck in a routine.
Select a name to follow the character through the other instruments in a full report.
- ImpulsiveDepthModerate
- Habit: strong
- Disruption: moderate
- Deliberation: weak
- Doing: strong
- Undergoing: weak
- Reflection: weak, where the circuit breaks
Ki-Tek's behaviour cycles between passive habit and sudden, rage-driven action, with no deliberation in between. He never absorbs the 'undergoing' of humiliation; it comes out as violence.
- AnaestheticDepthModerate
- Habit: moderate
- Disruption: moderate
- Deliberation: moderate
- Doing: strong
- Undergoing: weak, where the circuit breaks
- Reflection: moderate
Ki-Woo is a planner who mistakes cunning for wisdom. He deliberates and acts well, then fails at the 'undergoing' moments (the basement brawl and its aftermath). His only reflection is the futile fantasy at the end.
- CompleteDepthStrong
- Habit: weak
- Disruption: strong
- Deliberation: strong
- Doing: strong
- Undergoing: moderate
- Reflection: moderate
The most complete circuit of any character here. She deliberates and acts with ease. Her outburst about rich people shows a capacity for 'undergoing', but violence cuts it short before it can turn into reflection.
- ImpulsiveDepthModerate
- Habit: moderate
- Disruption: moderate
- Deliberation: weak
- Doing: strong
- Undergoing: moderate
- Reflection: weak, where the circuit breaks
Strong at doing, and she meets disruption with physical force. Little deliberation or reflection: she runs on survival instinct. She protects the family by acting, with no larger plan.
- ImpulsiveDepthModerate
- Habit: weak
- Disruption: strong
- Deliberation: moderate
- Doing: moderate
- Undergoing: strong
- Reflection: weak, where the circuit breaks
Undergoes hardship and loss, and that drives her return. Desperation limits her deliberation, and her reflection never gets past nostalgia for the house, so her circuit never closes.
08VonnegutExperimental
Audience Fit Analysis
What shape is my story, and which kind of audience is that shape most likely to reward?
An Icarus arc, with Oedipus close behind
Rise to success, then fall from grace. Films with this shape: Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, Scarface.
Closest shapes
Each shape is drawn over this script's own fortune curve, smoothed, in grey.
Icarus rise, then fall
Strong fitThe arc climbs steeply to a delusional high (the celebration on the night of the flood), then falls into tragedy with no way back.
Oedipus fall, rise, fall
Strong fitThe story starts low, rises with the scam's success, then falls into the basement horror.
Man in a hole fall, then rise
Partial fitOnly a partial fit: the Kims start in a hole and climb out through the jobs, but this shape ends on the climb, and the story ends in collapse.
- Sc. 69
This is an Icarus arc. The family's confidence and fortunes climb as they infiltrate the mansion and reach their height at the rain-soaked celebration (scene 69). Then the story drops into chaos and death. Ki-Tek ends up imprisoned under the house, and Ki-Woo's fantasy of buying it makes the class tragedy bleaker.
The film plays with sympathy: it makes the scam exhilarating, then punishes the characters (and the viewer) for enjoying it. That is what makes it unsettling.
Fortune tops out at scene 69 and bottoms out at 131
It swings widely and sits mostly in ill fortune. The script ends at a low ebb.
How to read this
The line follows the main characters' fortune through the script. Above the middle line things are going well for them; below it, badly.
The analysis samples the script at intervals, drawn as dots, and joins the samples. The triangles above the chart are the turning points listed under it, pointing up for a rise and down for a fall.
Hover over or tap the chart to read a scene.
- Sc. 4
Rise INT. SEMI-BASEMENT - EARLY EVENING
Min-Hyuk arrives with the viewing stone and the tutoring offer, and the family's climb begins.
- Sc. 14
Rise INT. MANSION - KITCHEN - EVENING
Ki-Woo passes the interview and secures the first job inside the Park mansion.
- Sc. 60
Rise INT. MANSION - VARIOUS - EVENING
The whole family is now inside the house. The infiltration ends with the 'Belt of Trust' montage.
- Sc. 69
Rise INT. MANSION - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
The Kims celebrate and imagine owning the mansion, just before the doorbell rings. Their fortune is at its height.
- Sc. 69
Fall INT. MANSION - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
The doorbell rings and Mun-Kwang returns. The reversal starts here.
- Sc. 75
Fall INT. MANSION - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
The Parks come home early, and the Kims have to hide like 'cockroaches'.
- Sc. 102
Fall INT. SEMI-BASEMENT - ENTRANCE - NIGHT
The flood destroys the Kims' semi-basement home.
- Sc. 131
Fall EXT. MANSION - GARDEN - DAY
Ki-Tek kills Dong-Ik and Ki-Jung is stabbed: the bottom of the descent.
- Sc. 158
Fall EXT. HILL - LATE EVENING
The ending reveals that the hopeful future is only a fantasy; Ki-Woo is still on the hill, unable to save his father.
Five of seven audiences fit strongly; tension releasers and hedonic viewers fit weakly
How to read this
Audiences are listed from the closest fit down, so rows in the same band are still in order. Open a row to see what appeals to that audience and what gets in the way.
Affective seekersWants to empathise with characters and reach an emotional catharsis.Strong fit
All three measures read strong for affective seekers.
- Plot complexity
- The plot has many moving parts, and it works as an emotional pressure cooker.
- Character depth
- The family bond is strong, so the tragedy hits hard.
- Change of pace
- The shift from farce to horror is hard to watch.
- Appeal
The family's scrappy loyalty is instantly endearing.
- Appeal
Ki-Jung's death and Ki-Tek's final breakdown stay with the viewer.
- Friction
The absence of a 'good guy' can leave the viewer feeling hollow and unable to attach.
- Friction
The ambiguous, dream-state fantasy ending denies the audience a clear emotional release.
Eudaimonic viewersSeeks meaning, tolerates tragedy if meaningful.Strong fit
All three measures read strong for eudaimonic viewers.
- Plot complexity
- Works as a parable about systemic inequality.
- Character depth
- Every character flaw is a product of their economic circumstances.
- Change of pace
- The descent is tragic and carries the argument.
- Appeal
The tragic ending makes the point about class immobility stick.
- Appeal
The recurring viewing stone and the 'plan' philosophy reward existential analysis.
- Friction
May feel emotionally manipulative in its despair.
- Friction
Some viewers may reject the lack of individual moral agency in favour of systemic critique.
Personal integratorsSeeks prestige and cultural capital.Strong fit
All three measures read strong for personal integrators.
- Plot complexity
- Layered plotting, built around the house as a model of class.
- Character depth
- Archetypes carrying sharp social critique, with little introspection.
- Change of pace
- The turn from caper to horror reads as a deliberate formal choice.
- Appeal
Narrative architecture metaphor (the house) signals high artistic merit.
- Friction
The explicit violence and slapstick humour can clash with 'stuffy' prestige expectations.
- Friction
The overtly political message can feel didactic rather than purely artistic.
Cognitive seekersWants complex plots and an intellectual challenge.Strong fit
- Plot complexity
- Strong
- Twists, nested plans, and tonal shifts demand sharp attention.
- Character depth
- Moderate
- Characters are defined by class and cunning more than by psychology.
- Change of pace
- Strong
- Swings between dark comedy and suspense, then tips into violence.
- Appeal
The 'Belt of Trust' scheming is a puzzle box of social engineering.
- Appeal
The theoretical reading of the house as a subconscious map (upstairs/downstairs/basement).
- Friction
The lack of a cathartic or morally clear resolution may feel intellectually unsatisfying.
- Friction
Genre-blending can feel manipulative if the viewer prioritises logical consistency over thematic metaphor.
Social integratorsCraves shared, 'watercooler' moments and broad shareability.Strong fit
All three measures read strong for social integrators.
- Plot complexity
- The 'water-cooler' twists make it highly discussable.
- Character depth
- Universally understandable class anxiety drives every action.
- Change of pace
- The shocking midpoint turn guarantees conversation.
- Appeal
The 'ram-don' recipe and the doorbell scene are the moments people quote.
- Appeal
Class warfare is a theme everyone has an opinion on.
- Friction
The bleakness might make it hard to universally recommend for light social viewing.
- Friction
Subtitles can be a barrier for some mainstream social groups.
Tension releasersSeeks escapism and resolved endings, with a low cognitive load.Weak fit
- Plot complexity
- Weak
- Requires reading subtitles and tracking complex social manoeuvring.
- Character depth
- Moderate
- Focuses on external action and suspense rather than soothing predictability.
- Change of pace
- Weak
- The violent genre shift and unresolved ending are the opposite of escapism.
- Appeal
The initial heist comedy offers a fun, vicarious power fantasy.
- Friction
The ending is tragic and unresolved. There is no happy closure.
- Friction
Subtitles and social subtext make it hard work to relax into.
Hedonic viewersCraves positive resolution and avoids ambiguity.Weak fit
- Plot complexity
- Strong
- The plot has many moving parts, and the anxiety it builds is never paid off.
- Character depth
- Strong
- The family is drawn in depth, but it leads somewhere bleak.
- Change of pace
- Weak
- The journey from comedy to horror offers no positive resolution.
- Appeal
The 'found family' dynamics in the scam phase are very warm and funny.
- Friction
Directly punishes the 'rags to riches' fantasy and destroys all hope.
- Friction
The ending is unambiguously bad for the protagonists.
09CrenshawExperimental
Representation & Power
Who in my cast gets agency and an inner life, and where might I be leaning on a stereotype without noticing?
A narrow range of identities, and two perspectives sidelined
The narrative is aligned almost entirely with the Kims' class struggle and gives them full humanity and interiority. The wealthy Parks are seen from outside, and their perspective carries less weight in the story despite their social power.
- Told from
- The perspective of the working-class Kim family, specifically their experience of class resentment and precarity.
- Sidelined
- Mun-Kwang and Kun-Sae, whose own story of debt and survival is glimpsed but ultimately crushed by the main plot.
- Da-Hae, whose perspective is limited to her romantic interest in Ki-Woo and her function as a symbol of the 'simple' rich.
- Range of identities
- WeakHow broad the mix of identities is across the cast.
The 'smell' motif makes class something in the body, which no amount of performance can erase.
It avoids simple moralising. The Kims' schemes are fun and sympathetic, so the audience has to look at its own class allegiances.
The conflict between the two poor families is horizontal class violence: precarity sets the marginalised against each other.
Ki-Woo and Ki-Jung drive the plot; Yon-Kyo and Dong-Ik serve other characters' stories
Marginalised · fall arc
Working-class Korean man in his late 40s, patriarch of a poor family, chronically unemployed
- Drives plot
- Moderate
- Makes choices
- Moderate
- Inner life
- Moderate
- Humanised
- Moderate
- Othering present
Ki-Tek's identities, stereotypes and notes
- Gender
- man
- Class
- working-class/poor (lives in semi-basement, multiple failed businesses)
- Age
- 49
- Profession
- unemployed/driver (former valet, designated driver, Castella shop owner)
- Nationality
- Korean
- The bumbling father, played straightInitially portrayed as a serene, ineffectual patriarch who fails at pizza box folding and is mocked by his wife. His lack of gravitas is played for laughs.
- The violent lower-class man, played straightHe ends by killing Dong-Ik with an axe after the smell comment, which fits the trope of the poor man as a ticking time bomb of resentment.
Ki-Tek goes from passive dreamer to violent actor: a bleak picture of class resentment reaching its breaking point.
His 'no plan' philosophy puts into words the precarity he lives in.
The script grants him moments of genuine tenderness, particularly with his son. That complicates the monstrous act at the end.
- The murder at the end risks confirming the classist prejudice the film critiques: that the poor are inherently dangerous.
- His 'serene' mask often hides what he thinks, so his final turn can feel slightly abrupt.
Marginalised · circular arc
Young working-class Korean man, intelligent but lacking credentials, the family's primary schemer
- Drives plot
- Strong
- Makes choices
- Strong
- Inner life
- Moderate
- Humanised
- Strong
Ki-Woo's identities, stereotypes and notes
- Gender
- man
- Class
- working-class/poor (lives in semi-basement, failed college entrance exams)
- Age
- 24
- Profession
- unemployed/tutor (initially unemployed, becomes an English tutor)
- Nationality
- Korean
- The charming con artist, played straightKi-Woo is the mastermind of the family's infiltration, using his wits and charm to manipulate the Parks. This is a classic 'trickster' archetype.
- The model minority striver, subvertedHe is intelligent and driven, but the script subverts the 'model minority' myth: systemic inequality blocks his path to success and pushes him into crime.
Ki-Woo is the audience's primary point of identification. His intelligence makes the family's schemes exciting to watch rather than purely villainous.
The viewing stone is his symbolic through-line, from a token of luck to a weapon and a burden.
The ending, his fantasy of buying the house, sums up an ambition he can never fulfil.
- His romance with Da-Hae moves the plot along, but it can feel like a manipulation the script never questions.
Marginalised · flat arc
Young working-class Korean woman, a cynical and talented forger who poses as an art therapist
- Drives plot
- Strong
- Makes choices
- Strong
- Inner life
- Moderate
- Humanised
- Moderate
- Objectification present
Ki-Jung's identities, stereotypes and notes
- Gender
- woman
- Class
- working-class/poor (lives in semi-basement, failed art school exams)
- Age
- 23
- Profession
- unemployed/art therapist (initially unemployed, becomes an art therapist for Da-Song)
- Nationality
- Korean
- The femme fatale, subvertedKi-Jung uses her sexuality (planting underwear) and cold demeanour to manipulate. The script subverts this with her vulnerability and her loyalty to the family, and she ends up more than a seductress.
- The cynical artist, played straightHer talent goes into forgery and her view of the world is cynical. She fits the 'tortured artist' mould, but her cynicism comes from material reality.
Ki-Jung is the most ruthlessly competent member of the family. Her forgery and improvisation are a comment on how a class-stratified society wastes talent.
Her outburst at the family for worrying about the fired driver is a rare moment of raw emotion, and it cuts through the cynicism.
Her death is the harshest consequence of the family's schemes. It is the cost of their class transgression, and there is no undoing it.
- Her character is occasionally objectified by the camera (e.g., the underwear scene), which, while plot-relevant, still frames her body as a tool.
- Her inner life is the least explored in the family, so she can feel more like a plot device than her brother or father do.
Marginalised · flat arc
Working-class Korean woman in her late 40s, a former athlete, physically strong and pragmatically ruthless
- Drives plot
- Moderate
- Makes choices
- Moderate
- Inner life
- Weak
- Humanised
- Moderate
Chung-Sook's identities, stereotypes and notes
- Gender
- woman
- Class
- working-class/poor (lives in semi-basement)
- Age
- 49
- Profession
- unemployed/housekeeper (initially unemployed, becomes the Parks' housekeeper)
- Body
- former athlete (pictures show her as a shot putter; she is physically strong)
- Nationality
- Korean
- The nagging wife, subvertedShe constantly belittles Ki-Tek, which fits the trope. The script subverts it: she is the family's toughest member in body and mind, and her harshness is how she survives.
- The maternal protector, played straightWhen she skewers Kun-Sae at the end, it is a primal defence of her family, in line with the 'mother bear' archetype.
Chung-Sook's physical strength, left over from her years as an athlete, is what gets the family through the final brawl.
Her line 'She's kindhearted because she's rich' is the film's most direct statement of its thesis on class and morality.
- Her character is largely defined by her pragmatic toughness, with fewer moments of vulnerability or interiority compared to the male characters.
- The script sometimes uses her for comic relief (e.g., her drunkenness) in ways that slightly undercut her formidable presence.
Privileged · no arc
Wealthy, naive Korean homemaker, sheltered by her class position
- Drives plot
- Weak
- Makes choices
- Weak
- Inner life
- Weak
- Humanised
- Moderate
- Exists to serve the Kim family's story
- Objectification present
- Othering present
Yon-Kyo's identities, stereotypes and notes
- Gender
- woman
- Class
- upper-class/wealthy (lives in a mansion designed by a famous architect)
- Age
- 41
- Profession
- homemaker (does not work, manages the household)
- Nationality
- Korean
- The naive rich wife, played straightYon-Kyo is portrayed as gullible and simple, the classic stereotype of the wealthy, idle woman.
- The hysterical mother, played straightHer main concern is her son's trauma, and she reacts with high-pitched emotion: the trope of the over-anxious, irrational mother.
Her gullibility comes from her wealth, which has spared her the need to be sceptical. She is a product of her environment more than an individual fool.
- She is never given an inner life and is treated as a punchline or a plot device. Of the major characters, she is the least humanised.
- Her sexuality is used for a comic scene (the sofa scene) that others her and her husband; from the Kims' point of view their intimacy is absurd.
- The script never challenges the 'simple' label Min-Hyuk gives her, so in effect it agrees with him.
Privileged · no arc
Wealthy Korean CEO, embodies the polite but firm class distance of the nouveau riche
- Drives plot
- Moderate
- Makes choices
- Moderate
- Inner life
- Weak
- Humanised
- Moderate
- Exists to serve Ki-Tek's story
- Othering present
Dong-Ik's identities, stereotypes and notes
- Gender
- man
- Class
- upper-class/wealthy (CEO of a tech company, lives in a mansion)
- Age
- 45
- Profession
- CEO (works at a tech company)
- Nationality
- Korean
- The benevolent patriarch, subvertedHe appears kind and reasonable, but the script subverts this: his comments about 'the line' and his physical disgust at the 'poor smell' show a deep-seated classism.
- The cool CEO, played straightHe is first presented as a tired high-flyer with an air of mystique, a common idealised picture of corporate success.
Dong-Ik's classism comes out through 'reasonable' boundaries and private disgust. That makes him a realistic antagonist, and a harder one to spot than a cartoon villain.
His obsession with the 'line' is a metaphor for class boundaries, and he dies because he cannot see the Kims as fully human.
- His character is largely defined by his function as a class antagonist, with limited exploration of his inner life beyond his role as employer and husband.
- The 'poor smell' comment carries the theme, but it risks shrinking his class prejudice to a single, easy-to-spot tic.
Three of the five power relations are domination
- Subordination
Ki-Tek and Dong-Ik. Ki-Tek is Dong-Ik's employee. Dong-Ik values his work but keeps a strict class boundary. He talks about 'the line', and in private he complains about Ki-Tek's smell.
Along class and profession
- Domination
Yon-Kyo and Chung-Sook. Yon-Kyo is Chung-Sook's employer. She is friendly but demanding, and to her Chung-Sook is part of how the household runs, not a person with a life of her own.
Along class and profession
- Domination
Ki-Woo and Da-Hae. Ki-Woo is poorer, but he holds the power here. He is Da-Hae's tutor, and he courts her as part of the con, which works because she is naive.
Along class and gender
- Conflict
The Kim Family with Mun-Kwang and Kun-Sae. A horizontal class conflict. Both families are poor and precariously attached to the Park household. They fight for the same limited resource: the right to parasitise the wealthy family.
Along class
- Domination
Ki-Jung and Yon-Kyo. Ki-Jung performs expertise and authority, and Yon-Kyo gives way completely. Psychological manipulation reverses the expected employer-employee power dynamic.
Along class, gender and profession
Four scenes where identities meet: two reinforce the hierarchy, one challenges it and one cuts both ways.
How to read this
Each moment is a scene where two or more of a character's identities meet. Structural: they compound the character's situation. Political: loyalties to different groups pull against each other. Representational: the portrayal itself carries the charge.
Under each note: whose moment it is, which kind, and what the scene does to the hierarchy it shows.
- Sc. 69
Chung-Sook states, 'She's kindhearted because she's rich. If I had all this, my heart would be overflowing with kindness!' She ties goodness to money: kindness is something the rich can afford.
Chung-Sook · Structural · Challenges the hierarchy
- Sc. 74
Mun-Kwang pleads with Chung-Sook, 'Us domestic workers, we're sisters,' and appeals to what they share as working women. It fails: they are competing for the same job.
Mun-Kwang · Structural · Reinforces the hierarchy
- Sc. 93
Dong-Ik and Yon-Kyo discuss Ki-Tek's 'poor smell' while having sex, and Dong-Ik fetishises the 'cheap panties.' The scene layers class disgust with sexual desire, so class becomes something bodily and sexual.
Ki-Tek · Representational · Reinforces the hierarchy
- Sc. 131
Ki-Tek kills Dong-Ik after seeing him recoil at Kun-Sae's 'poor smell.' He answers class disgust, and what he takes as an insult to his family's dignity, with an axe.
Ki-Tek · Structural · Cuts both ways
Eight stereotypes played straight, four subverted
- Played straight
- The bumbling father and the violent lower-class man (Ki-Tek); the charming con artist (Ki-Woo); the cynical artist (Ki-Jung); the maternal protector (Chung-Sook); the naive rich wife and the hysterical mother (Yon-Kyo); the cool CEO (Dong-Ik)
- Subverted
- The model minority striver (Ki-Woo); the femme fatale (Ki-Jung); the nagging wife (Chung-Sook); the benevolent patriarch (Dong-Ik)
Every wealthy character is naive or shallow; every poor one is cunning and emotionally complex.
Women's bodies are consistently used as tools or sites of class commentary (Ki-Jung's underwear, Yon-Kyo's sexuality, Chung-Sook's physical strength).
The only non-Korean characters are a German family who appear briefly and silently, as a punchline about the house's cursed history.
The wealthy characters, particularly Yon-Kyo, are so lacking in interiority that they risk becoming caricatures of clueless privilege rather than fully realised antagonists.
The script's treatment of its female characters is uneven; Ki-Jung and Chung-Sook are formidable but are given less interiority than Ki-Woo and Ki-Tek, and Yon-Kyo is largely a punchline.
The ending's fantasy sequence fits the theme, but it could be read as saying the only way out of class oppression is to become the oppressor. Systemic change never enters the picture.
For the next draft
- Almost everything Yon-Kyo does is played for satire, with little interior life outside the comedy, so the joke lands on a type rather than a person. Is her flatness part of the film's argument about her class?
- Ki-Jung is the family's most capable operator, yet nearly every beat she has goes to the scheme and none to her own wants. What does she want for herself?
- Courting Da-Hae is part of Ki-Woo's con, and the script never has him admit, even to himself, that it is cruel. Does he know?
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