A darling of critics and the winner of Cannes’ prestigious Palme d’Or prize, “Parasite” is already a box office stunner in its limited, soon-expanding release—it sold out every single one of its IFC Center screenings over the weekend, becoming an all-time opening weekend record-breaker for the indie theater. There is a must-see status around the film, proving that the unanimous praise and interest for it out of Telluride, Toronto and the recently concluded New York Film Festivals was no coincidence. And even bigger things might be ahead for the adventurous genre film submitted to the Academy Awards as South Korea’s official selection; victories that might reach beyond a “Best International Film” award at the Oscars. (South Korea has never been nominated in the recently-rebranded category formerly called “Best Foreign Language Film,” so even a nomination is bound to make AMPAS history.)

The director’s finest film to date, “Parasite” thematically aligns with Bong’s previous work like “Okja,” “Snowpiercer” and “Mother” that explores issues around social justice, class inequalities and capitalistic greed, with the artistic specificity and genre polish we came to expect from the filmmaker. Blending elements of satirical comedies, neorealist dramas, high-wired thrillers and unnerving horror, Bong’s latest tells the story of two families—actually, three (without giving away spoilers)—worlds apart, yet merging under one roof eventually. We first meet the Kims—a tight-knit family of four, barely making ends meet with odds jobs here and there, living in crammed quarters of a grimy corner of Seoul. Gifted scammers, the quartet speedily works its way into full-time jobs at the Park house; an idyllic architectural wonder, a rich, contemporary fortress with secrets, nested in a very different part of town. And naturally, all hell is bound to break loose. As Bong goes deeper into his examination of economic disparity and the blind, condescending entitlement of the privileged class, “Parasite” goes from funny, to unsettling, to deeply heartbreaking in segments orchestrated with the precision of a stage choreographer.

Below is my brief chat with director Bong, on the themes and crafts of “Parasite.”

“Parasite” is very specific about its sense of space. All your movies have that exactness about the place they are set in. But “Parasite” would not have worked in any other type of house. So how did you conceive the idea of this castle-like place, with multiple layers and multiple nooks and crannies?

You know, the rich house in this film is not like the mansions you see in Hollywood films, like Tim Burton’s “Batman”; Michael Keaton's home in that film. It's not as big, but around 60% of the story happens there. So it was very important that it felt like its own universe. And of course if you go into further detail of the house, you discover many secrets. So we really tried to construct it as this big universe. And how the characters move within that space there is also very important. Their pathways, their movements and all the [camera] angles. So even from when we were designing the space, our priority was how people would be moving and we designed it around that movement. So that movement, the blocking, is very essential to me. Maybe if some real architects in the real world watched the movie, they might find it a little strange; like, why no house has that kind of structure. Of course, you know, in the frame, it's very beautiful. But from an objective perspective of an architect, the structure might feel a little unconventional.