Parasite

Saw Parasite, the Korean upstairs/downstairs classism drama about a poor family who insinuates themselves into the lives of a rich family.  It's an interesting film.  I assumed going in that it would be revealed that it was the rich family who were the real parasites and while that argument can be made, it is not explicitly made by the film.  The rich family is portrayed as vapid, idle, and undeserving, but they are also vulnerable, naive, and innocent of the harsh realities of poverty.  They're not knowingly exploiting anyone.

This film doesn't condemn the rich for being born to the right family, but it also does not condemn the poor family for taking advantage of the rich.  The poor family are the protagonists and it's much nicer to see them sleep in servant's quarters than to see them in their cement, underground apartment.  The poor family works much harder than the rich family.  They oust some hard-working other servants to make room for themselves, but that's capitalism at work: they need money.  Although it's unjust, it's not the fault of the rich family that they benefit from this system.

I feel this film most sharply critiques the myth of meritocracy.  Due to familial wealth, the rich family wants for nothing.  The poor family must work far harder than the rich family for what scraps they can steal while the rich family, who are not evil but merely stupid, live in outrageous luxury.  In a more equitable world, perhaps the poor family would achieve success through loans, education, or the merits of their hard work, but by the end of the movie some of them are dead, one is imprisoned, and one dreams impossible dreams of buying the rich family's enormous house.