How to watch Parasite online in Australia

Glory to the holy WiFi.

It seems like forever ago when the world was introduced to Parasite. The latest from the already legendary Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Memories of Murder, Okja), Parasite hit the film festival circuit running, picking up a tidy Palme d'Or at May's Cannes Film Festival. Then things began to snowball, and before too long, Parasite had picked up a several wins and nominations from every major festival. The gigantic katamari ball of trophies and accolades hit its apex when the black comedy/thriller became the first non-English film to take Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards. It was quite possibly the greatest moment in Oscars history. And also the one choice from the Academy that people almost universally agreed with.

Now, after a long wait, Parasite is available to stream in Australia. Here are your options.

It's difficult to saddle Parasite with any particular genre. One moment you're watching a heartwarming comedy about a tight-knit South Korean family making ends meet folding pizza boxes, and in the next you're watching a carefully orchestrated heist movie, a comedy of errors and, eventually, a brutal, nail-biting thriller. Some movies are experienced best by going in blind, and that's never been more true than it is with Parasite. 

But if you absolutely must know what you're getting yourself into, here's the short of it. Parasite follows a family of four who live a relatively happy life in a cramped semi-basement apartment. But an opportunity for a new life comes knocking at the door, in the form of a wealthy and gullible family with more dollars than sense.

One by one, the Kim family—father Kim, Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho),  mother Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin), daughter Ki-jeong (Park So-dam) and son Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik), infiltrate the Park family's suburban mansion; executing a clever scheme to replace each member of the Park family's help (tutor, chauffeur and housekeeper).

That's all you get. And if that isn't enough to wet your whistle, take a look at the trailer below.

Bong Joon-ho's genre hopping career has something for everyone.

In Australia, you can catch The Host on Google Play and Youtube Movies. This 2006 monster horror follows a father (Parasite's Song Kang-ho) on a desperate quest to save his daughter from a huge amphibious creature that emerges from the Han River in South Korea.

Next up is Mother, Bong Joon-ho's 2009 mystery/crime thriller where a small town widow (Kim Hye-ja) goes to great lengths to prove her son's innocence when the police arrest him for the murder of a young girl with little circumstantial evidence. Mother (not to be confused with 2017's Mother!) is available on  iTunes, Google Play and YouTube Movies.

If you're a vego, or toying with the idea, we recommend taking Okja for a whirl. This was Bong Joon-ho's crack at a Netflix Original, and it's exclusive to the platform. It stars Seo-Hyeon Ahn in the lead role as Mija, a young girl on mission to reclaim her genetically modified "Superpig" Okja.

If you like claustrophobic action thrillers like Train to Busan, take a look at Snowpiercer on Netflix or Stan. It stars Chris Evans as the leader of a resistance on a train that carries the last remnants of humanity across a frozen landscape. It's also got repeat Bong Joon-ho collaborators Song Kang-ho and Tilda Swinton.

We'd also love to recommend Bong Joon-ho's 2003 crime  Memories of Murder, but it isn't available to stream in Australia at all.  It's pretty tricky to track down but word on the street is you can catch it on South Korea's Netflix (for which you'll need a VPN) but if you're desperate, the DVD is available on Amazon Australia.