Parasites (2016) Movie Review

It might be a little difficult to tell from the Parasites trailer, which we brought to you last week, but Chad Ferrin’s Parasites is a well-conceived, thought-provoking film about homelessness. More than that, it’s an excellent social commentary about our preconceived notions of what or who homeless people are.

I would say that the events in Parasites are more than a little exaggerated, but given the fact that the filmmakers inform us that the story is based on actual events, much of the unbelievable doesn’t seem all that far-fetched. And given the current social climate that we live in, we do tend to treat one another very poorly. That certainly doesn’t mean that there aren’t elements in the film that enter fantasyland, but without the hyperbole there wouldn’t be much of comment being made.

While Parasites isn’t as gore-riddled as say Hobo With a Shotgun, it has enough bloody carnage to satisfy genre fans. There’s even some humor to be had, although I’m not sure that it was intentional or not to have an overweight and aging Native American chase and keep up with a young, athletic college quarterback, but the lengthy scene was quite humorous.

At first, the ending of the film might seem like it was altered or that something was tacked on, and that would make sense considering the gravity of the film’s subject matter and the types of police shootings that the media seems to constantly report on in the U.S.

Writer/director Chad Ferrin did a fantastic job of balancing the typical B-movie acting with cast members with a bit more skill, such as his leads Robert Miano (Wilco) and Sean Samuels (Marshal Colter). The filming, color tone, and editing were also on-point for the style, genre, and message of the film.

The Verdict:

The intensity in Parasites mounts pretty steadily, and once it’s there it’s nonstop. This might not be the movie at the top of your must-watch list, but it certainly deserves a viewing if not for its steady stream of kills, then for its comment on society. But the real question is who will you root for: the self-righteous bums or the seriously-out-of-place college football player?

Rock Hard \m/