I had mixed feelings watching this series. Before I go and tell you all that I want to say about this movie, let us gloss over the general knowledge.

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Parasyte: The Grey, is a South Korean Sci-fi adapted from the Japanese Manga of the same name. I think I was just about to begin watching the anime when I stumbled on the movie on Netflix. This six episode series is about alien like things called parasites, coming to earth and taking over human brains.

Starting with, Parasyte: The Grey is horror for both those who are not much into horror and those who are. It features scenes that I would term very adaptable. You see it coming before it does so, no jump scares. Could be because this is only the first arc, however, I did not put my hands over my eyes or anything like that. I was swept up in attention even.

IMPRESSIONS: THE CHARACTERS

JEONG SU-IN

Jeong Su-In, the lady misfortune. She seemed to be surrounded by nothing but pain and grief. However, is that not the way it is with every notable character in movies? The protagonist and/or antagonist always have a story. Watching Demon Slayer taught me that.

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I guess what drew me in so much to the character Su-In was not just the fact that she is the main lead and therefore should have my focus, no. I was drawn to Su-In from episode four, where we would clearly see her story and where exactly she was coming from. Before this, we are given a glimpse at the beginning after Su-In is jumped by a customer and stabbed, only to be rescued by the Parasite that’ll make its way to her. This would have consequences on the Parasyte later, but we will get there.

She tells the Captain of the local police force and her guardian, Kim Chul-min how she felt while being stabbed. Her thoughts were not really on the fear and the pain she was going through at that moment, as I’d thought, but rather, on the fact that she was befallen with another bout of misfortune. I really had mixed feelings about that because, I don’t know, wouldn’t one have a different response? However, this thought proceeded to solidify the image of her getting stabbed into her mind and she won’t let go of that knowledge even when she’s told that it could be her mind playing tricks.

Jeong Su-In, we would later find out, has lived an unfortunate childhood and adulthood. Abandoned by her mother and beaten daily by her father, Su-In would make the ultimate decision to live by doing what that part of Asia, just like over here in Nigeria, consider an abomination; calling the cops on your parent. From a young age, Su-In is seen as a monster for defending herself. For deciding to live.

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You know, so many scenarios played in my mind at how this was so relatable to society today. Not just Su-In’s actions and the way it affected the narrative, but also different situations similar. I’ll say we have many people who have been labeled for daring to take the unconventional way out of the life they do not want. Yes, many don’t go about it the right way, however, just who are we to judge? Watching Su-In made me realise that we only watch as ignorant bystanders and give verdicts, until we find ourselves in the same situation. Reminds me of a very particular annoying character in Sweet Home who was just like that.

Despite Su-In being alone in the world now, Mr. Chul-min was a source of great comfort to her distressed soul. Watching the interaction between these two, and I draw the conclusion that indeed, movies are the copies of reality. As humans we need interaction. We are social beings who thrive amidst other people. Chul-min’s presence did great to the development of Su-In. Just like the presence of any decent human being would.

CHOI JUN-KYUNG

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At first, I felt this woman would be a huge pain in the arse and that she was. However, I could not deny the nagging feeling that she would be more than just an antagonist. We would watch Jun-kyung’s story later in the movie and find that maybe her anger was justified. From the flashbacks, the Jun-kyung pre-parasyte take-over was carefree, looked younger and in love. Post-Parasyte, the lines of grief and sadness had carved a careful line around her face. It only took what, two months?

That is the power of grief, sorrow, pain and sadness. Humans respond more sensitively to these emotions than any other I know. Like many humans, we see today, Jun-kyung channeled all that energy into doing one thing and that was to eradicate evil. However, she was blind some times and would respond in a way that had me upset. In addition, I felt she was too smug for her own good.

SEOL KANG-WOO

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I did not have any impression of this person in the beginning other than the fact that he would become an important part in this story. Kang-woo is the definition of what I meant by humans taking the unconventional way out of a life they did not want. However, watching his reactions, responses to situations as the movie progressed would endear my heart.

You see, Kang-woo is not used to stepping up. Living as a small fry in a gang that would abandon him, Kang-woo could pass for a coward, but he would prove to us that he was not. He had this very human habit of throwing in the towel only to pick it back up. He would say it is none of his business but then we would find him five minutes later in the line of danger trying to protect and help Su-In. It warmed my heart because this person was definitely stepping out of comfort zone all the time after he would promise not to involve himself. Is this the trait of a good or foolish person?

KANG WON-SEOK

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This guy. I did not see it coming but that is the beautiful thing about South Korean movies. The twists are so unpredictable. You think you know and then find that you do not know. I would never have suspected this hypocrite if we were not shown that he was in fact a betrayer. The funny part is how self-righteous he is. Selling his fellow humans to a parasitic organization, brother would go ahead to criticize them (the parasytes) for betraying each other. Jesus! My eye twitched at his self-righteous speech.

Further into the story, we would see that Woo-seok is nothing but a coward. He blames his situation on everyone else but him. He feels humanity owes him something that only these creatures can make up for. In real life, we have things like these happen. Over here, it happens a lot. People who just cannot stomach you making it without them, entitled brats who make it their life’s mission to see you pay up for what you owe. That is what Woo-seok was in my eyes.

THE PARASITIC PSYCHOLOGY (Spoiler Alert)

The first thing I would learn independently about these creatures is the fact that they also possess emotions. We see from Heidi's (the name of the parasyte co-habiting with Su-In) point of view that they cannot only analyse human feelings and behavior but can also adopt it. When Heidi shielded Su-In from Jun-kyung’s wrath by sending Su-In into a coma that would take her deep into the subconscious mind, Heidi would proceed to make an observation after watching Su-In get abandoned the second time by her mother,

Humans do not judge any object as an independent entity. Your mother is judging you based on the environment in which her husband abused her.

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This could mean that Heidi had studied humans at great speed or, they have been programmed with all this kind of knowledge from the get-go. They were not just given the goal to kill and take over humans, but also given intelligence.

This we would further see with the parasyte occupying the body of Kang-woo’s older sister (Kyung-hee). It felt and recognized the sting of betrayal when the head of their organization would sacrifice its kin for a bigger goal. This would also spell that these things also felt greed, maybe not for material things, but greed nonetheless. Further, we would see that these things had the ability to be sorry and Kyung-hee would show this to us when it’ll offer a single line packed with so much more than words,

And to you, I’m sorry

Its actions following this prove the weight of its words. It would protect what it was trained to kill and proceed to give its life up while doing so. Yeah. They can feel all right. Which raises the thought from the beginning that a human indeed created these things. Kyung-hee’s actions was not the only thing that made my eyebrows lift.

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In a scene, where surrounded by humans, Heidi now fully conscious in Su-In’s body could take them on and find a way out. These things were so fast you would not see them coming especially a mutant like Heidi. However, Heidi decided to fall asleep and drag Su-In into a coma. For something that made the statement,

This co-habitant is absolutely useless for my survival

…why would it take a step back? Why not just kill through the humans and escape? Later on, I would see that this parasyte had adopted Su-In’s thoughts, emotions and feelings. It was sure that killing human’s was not what Su-In would want. Su-In wanted humans to trust her and she desired to live among humans despite being what she was. Heidi read this and tailored its actions and desires to fit its host. Now, what do we name this kind of bond?

WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE SERIES

This was just the first arc. I look forward to the progress in the next season. I would give this first season a solid 9.5 out of 10. Despite being only six episodes and less than an hour each, the story and development flowed seamlessly. It was so smooth that it could have ended with just that season but, there are still many stories we have not been told.

The one take way from this series that would not leave my head anytime soon is the similarities between Heidi and Su-In. Kang-woo made a statement to Su-In,

Your life’s been brutal just like the one inside you.

Anyone would think he was speaking of Heidi adding to Su-In’s misfortunes but no. He meant Heidi also had a brutal life. Quite perceptive for someone labeled a coward. Looking at Heidi’s situation, it was not given a choice to its creation. In addition, it happened to take over a human on the verge of death led by its instinct. What was the consequence? Heidi would be rejected by its kind and by humans. In essence, Heidi and Su-In are similar.

CONCLUSION

I recommend. This series is very interesting – for lack of better words – and would captivate you. Whether you are a horror fan or not, you do not want to miss this series. I hope it only gets better from here.