Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite is the best film of the 21st century – according to a load of acclaimed directors, actors and writers, at least.
For The New York Times (in collaboration with The Upshot), names such as Guillermo del Toro, Benny Safdie, Mikey Madison, John Turturro, Julianne Moore, Dennis Lehane, and Chiwetel Ejiofor took part in a poll to determine the pinnacle of cinema since the turn of the millennium.
In the end, a Top 100 was compiled, but the Top 30 best films of the 21st century have only just been unveiled.
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Released in 2019, South Korean black-comedy thriller Parasite sits pretty as the best of the best at #1.
David Fincher’s Facebook-origin masterpiece The Social Network, Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, David Lynch’s nightmarishly surreal Mulholland Drive, the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s endlessly rewatchable There Will Be Blood each made it into the Top 10, yet they couldn’t penetrate Parasite’s ongoing spell over Hollywood.
The film, starring Director Bong’s muse Song Kang-ho, tells the tale of the poor Kim family, who spy a devilish opportunity when son Kevin starts to work as an English tutor for a rich’s couple’s young daughter.
Soon enough, the Kims infiltrate the household and live a parasitic life there.
That’s only the half of it though, so if you’re yet to sit down and watch Parasite, please remedy that this weekend.
Other big films to feature on the ‘best of the 21st century’ list include The Dark Knight, The Wolf of Wall Street, Get Out, The Social Network and No Country for Old Men.
Here’s the rest of the top 30 best films of the 21st century list:
Reeling in over $258 million (£188m) at the global box office, the film became only one of four to win both the prestigious Palme d’Or (at Cannes Film Festival) and the Oscar for Best Picture.
It was also honoured with success in the Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film categories.
Six years after its all-conquering release, Parasite is still rated at 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the review aggregator site’s critical consensus reading: “An urgent, brilliantly layered look at timely social themes, Parasite finds writer-director Bong Joon Ho in near-total command of his craft.”