Representation & Power

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.

1. The 'smell' motif makes class something in the body, which no amount of performance can erase.

2. It avoids simple moralising. The Kims' schemes are fun and sympathetic, so the audience has to look at its own class allegiances.

3. 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

• Ki-Tek

  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.

  1. Ki-Tek goes from passive dreamer to violent actor: a bleak picture of class resentment reaching its breaking point.

  2. His 'no plan' philosophy puts into words the precarity he lives in.

  3. 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.
• Ki-Woo

  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.

  1. Ki-Woo is the audience's primary point of identification. His intelligence makes the family's schemes exciting to watch rather than purely villainous.

  2. The viewing stone is his symbolic through-line, from a token of luck to a weapon and a burden.

  3. 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.
• Ki-Jung

  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.

  1. 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.

  2. Her outburst at the family for worrying about the fired driver is a rare moment of raw emotion, and it cuts through the cynicism.

  3. 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.
• Chung-Sook

  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.

  1. Chung-Sook's physical strength, left over from her years as an athlete, is what gets the family through the final brawl.

  2. 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.
• Yon-Kyo

  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.

  1. 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.
• Dong-Ik

  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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

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)

1. Every wealthy character is naive or shallow; every poor one is cunning and emotionally complex.

2. 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).

3. The only non-Korean characters are a German family who appear briefly and silently, as a punchline about the house's cursed history.

4. The wealthy characters, particularly Yon-Kyo, are so lacking in interiority that they risk becoming caricatures of clueless privilege rather than fully realised antagonists.

5. 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.

6. 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.