Eva Green: Arnaud Pyvka/Figarophoto/Camerapress
MANIPULATIVE
FLOWERS
LITTLE JOE
This chilly horror features a genetically
modified flower that causes a complete
personality change in anyone who sniffs
it. Probably not something to order for
Mother’s Day from Interflora.ALIEN-INFECTED
TREES
COLOR OUT OF SPACE
In this extremely bonkers Lovecraftian
sci-fi, a glowing purple alien asteroid
lands on Nicolas Cage’s farm and
infects all the life that surrounds it.
A bit like extreme lantana.TALL GRASS
IN THE TALL GRASS
This supernatural horror, based on a
novella co-written by Stephen King,
focuses on a group of people lost in
a fi eld of tall grass. A decent cordless
whipper snipper would have made
light work of that![TREND REPO
No./
EV
PLANTS
Costa Georgiadis
never had to deal
with this line-up of
dastardly cinematic
horticultureWORDS JOHN NUGENT
ILLUSTRATIONS BILL MCCONKEYO R T]
IL
TS
A TV SHOW COULD NEVER
BEAT THE FILM’S MYSTERY
ELLA KEMP
A fi lm as unanimously loved as
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite comes
along very rarely. Its legacy, then, is precious,
and also vulnerable to spoilage. If we learned
anything last decade, it’s that if someone made
something good, someone else would start
thinking up a remake as soon as possible.
Bong Joon-ho has said the fi lm’s two-hour
runtime is a necessity more than a choice,
holding back hours of already existing backstory
and detail to enhance the onscreen world he’s
built. While this could be true, and he’s certainly
the person to trust on the matter, the challenge
with any kind of serialisation is to feed fans enough
satisfying content to keep awe and acclaim up,fatigue and frustration at an all-time low. The
problem of adaptation in Parasite’s case comes
from its power: so much of the fi lm’s wicked
thrill lies in the immense mystery and constant
surprise. You always feel like Bong knows more,
that there’s something else lurking between
the fl oorboards. We think we want answers.
But could the reward ever be as thrilling as
the chase?THERE’S MORE
STORY TO TELL
JOHN NUGENT
It’s totally understandable to
feel protective of a property as
preposterously perfect as Parasite. If it ain’t
broke — and, in fact, is the very opposite of
broke, as this fi lm is — why try to fi x it? The key
question for any reboot or spin-off should be:
what’s the motivation? Is it to make a quick
buck, or are there genuine narrative reasons
for this extra story to be told?
There’s no reason to think it’s anything but
the latter. “My goal is to create a high-qualityexpanded version of Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho
told Variety, comparing the project to the fi ve-
hour TV version of Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny
& Alexander. A lofty comparison, perhaps. But
it’s clear there’s more story waiting to be told
here. There’s a history to the Park family house,
and its previous owner, that could easily fi ll
a fi lm. There are details on the margins of the
fi lm (the mysterious bruises on the face of
housekeeper Mun Gwang, played by Lee Jung
Eun; the ultimate fate of Ki-taek, played by
Song Kang-ho) that remain unexplored. It could
serve as prequel, sequel, a ‘sidequel’ that plays
alongside the original, or even a completely
new take on the story.
Of course there are jitters. But we can
take comfort in the talent involved: as well
as Bong himself, there’s executive producer
Adam McKay (who steered Succession to such
success). And then there’s HBO itself, which,
with the likes of previous adaptations like
Watchmen and Westworld, has turned cynics
to believers. To quote Ki-taek’s son Ki-woo:
this is so metaphorical.[THE DEBATE] HBO is moving
forward with a six-hour spin-off
miniseries of Bong Joon-ho’s
award-winning thriller. But
should it?No. / 13
Is the Parasite
TV show a
good idea?
Married couple Ki-taek (Song
Kang-ho) and Chung-sook
(Chang Hyae-jin): ready for a
six-parter on the small screen?PREVIEW