A Glean movie guide
Beyond the Basement: Films Like Parasite
Eat the rich.
Masterful thrillers and sharp social satires that explore class, deception, and power.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Snowpiercer
A high-octane sci-fi allegory where a train's cars represent a rigid and violent class hierarchy.
In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard the Snowpiercer; a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine.
- 02
The Handmaiden
A visually stunning and twist-filled thriller centered on a complex con within a wealthy household.
1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sookee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to steal her fortune.
- 03
Burning
A haunting, slow-burn mystery that captures the simmering resentment between the haves and the have-nots.
'Burning' is a conversation between two young mothers brought together by strange and cruel social realities, at a funeral ghat in Varanasi
- 04
Shoplifters
A tender yet heartbreaking look at a makeshift family living on the fringes of Japanese society.
In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.
- 05
Triangle of Sadness
A wickedly funny satire that strands the ultra-wealthy on an island to flip the social script.
A celebrity model couple are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged, alcoholic captain. What first appears Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island in a struggle of hierarchy.
- 06
The Housemaid
A sleek and suspenseful remake of the classic thriller that heavily inspired Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite.
Eun-yi is hired as a maid in a mansion owned by a wealthy businessman. He quickly starts seducing his employee who seemingly has little choice but to comply with his sexual advances. Soon the women of the family plot against Eun-yi who must fight an equally devious battle to protect herself.
- 07
The Menu
A sharp, claustrophobic thriller that turns fine-dining into a violent critique of elite consumerism.
A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.
- 08
Get Out
A groundbreaking social thriller that uses horror to expose the terrifying reality of class and race.
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
- 09
The Platform
A brutal, high-concept allegory set in a vertical prison where status is defined by what you eat.
A slab of food descends down a vertical facility. The residents above eat heartily, leaving those below starving and desperate. A rebellion is imminent.
- 10
Saltburn
A stylish and provocative psychological thriller about a student’s dark obsession with an aristocratic family.
Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
- 11
Memories of Murder
Bong Joon-ho’s masterful blend of dark comedy and procedural tension based on a real-life mystery.
A sadistic serial rapist and murderer of young women terrorizes a small province in 1980s South Korea. To prevent further crimes, three increasingly desperate detectives with conflicting methods race against time to unravel the violent mind of the killer in a futile effort to solve the case.
- 12
High and Low
A classic crime drama that uses a kidnapping to explore the vast gap between the 'high' and the 'low.'
A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.