The Chasm of Indifference

The most direct connection between the film and the parable is the insurmountable chasm that separates the two families. In the parable, the rich man and Lazarus live in close proximity—Lazarus is literally at the rich man’s gate—but a great gap exists between them. The rich man’s failure isn’t malice, but a complete inability to see the suffering right in front of him. In Parasite, the Kim family and the wealthy Park family occupy the same city, but they live in two different worlds. The Parks are oblivious to the poverty of the Kims, whose lives are invisible to them. The film uses physical space to symbolize this chasm, with the Kim family’s cramped, subterranean apartment standing in stark contrast to the Parks’ sprawling, minimalist home high on a hill.

The Lack of a Name

In the parable, the rich man is left nameless, referred to only by his status (“the rich man”), while the poor beggar has a name: Lazarus, which means “God helps.” This is a radical reversal of social norms, where the rich are remembered and the poor are forgotten. Parasite mirrors this brilliantly. The Park family, who are the “rich man,” are known by their family name, their wealth, and their status. The Kim family, though they also have a name, are treated as interchangeable, disposable servants whose personal stories and struggles are largely ignored by their employers. They are, in a sense, a “nameless mass” to the Parks, just as Lazarus was to the rich man before the afterlife.

The Promise of an Afterlife

The most chilling part of the film’s connection to the parable comes in its conclusion. In Luke’s Gospel, a chasm exists after death that cannot be crossed. The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers, but Abraham responds, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31). In the film, a violent reversal of fortune occurs at a banquet, where the Kims reveal their true identity. The ending is not a promise of salvation, but a bleak, hopeless vision of the chasm becoming permanent. The film’s final act suggests that if the privileged cannot or will not see the suffering in this life, there is no hope of being saved from the consequences of that indifference in the next.

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Discussion Questions

1. How does the film’s use of physical space—the Kim’s semi-basement apartment versus the Park’s home on a hill—visually represent this chasm? What are some real-life “chasms” of indifference that you see in your own community?
2. How does the film’s portrayal of the two families mirror this biblical inversion of social norms? What does it say about a culture that remembers the rich by their status but forgets the poor as individuals?
3. How does the film’s shocking and violent ending serve as a similar, bleak warning about the consequences of indifference? What does the film suggest about the possibility of conversion for the “rich” in this world?

Parasite