Written and directed by Kim Yon-hoon
Starring Jeon Do-yeon, Jung Woo-sung and Bae Seong-woo
Running time: 1 hour and 48 minutes

by Billy Russell

Many of the press materials for Kim Yong-hoon’s new film, Beasts Clawing at Straws, compares it to last year’s Best Picture winner, Parasite, but aside from some superficial similarities (they’re both South Korean pictures with a twisted sense of humor dealing with class struggles), the two have very little in common. I get it, though. Parasite was a big deal, the first non-English-speaking film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards in the United States. If there’s a passing similarity, it makes sense to hitch yourself to its wagon and try to get in on some of its success.