Which movie just beat hundreds of others to be crowned the best movie of the 21st century?

The 21st century has served up some serious cinematic heavyweights, sweeping space operas, aching romances that ruin your week, and thrillers that twist your brain into knots. But out of all the spectacle and noise, one film slinked in with zero fanfare, stabbed straight at the heart of modern society, and walked away with the crown. No explosions. No superheroes. Just class warfare wrapped in a perfectly folded napkin.

We're talking about Parasite- widely considered as the best movie of the 21st century. Bong Joon-ho engineered a cultural earthquake. The film open the shiny surface of wealth and privilege to reveal the rot crawling underneath, and it did it with elegance, cruelty, and a wicked sense of humor. Which makes sense that it’s called the best movie of the 21st century. From the smell metaphors to the basement secrets, from its seamless genre shifts to that final devastating frame, Parasite sticks with you like a stain you can’t scrub off.

It made history as the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars, but its true victory? Making the entire world uncomfortable in the most thrilling, artful way possible. Now, The New York Times' The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century listicle has given the top crown to Parasite, calling it the best film of the century. And honestly? It's justice well served. Here's why Parasite definitely deserves the top spot.

What is Parasite about?

Still from Parasite (Image via YouTube/NEON)

Parasite is a masterclass in social commentary film, that forces you to look beyond everything on screen and peel off layers of the plot. Directed by Bong Joon-ho, this South Korean genre-blender is part dark comedy, part thriller, part social gut-punch. At its heart, it’s about the messy, uncomfortable gap between the haves and the have-nots, and what happens when those worlds collide under one very sleek, very metaphor-heavy roof.

The film revolves around two families. The Kim family is scrappy, clever, and broke. They live in a tiny, half-submerged apartment where they are barely getting by. When the son, Ki-woo, lands a tutoring job with the ultra-rich Park family, it sparks a wild plan. Slowly, each member of the Kim family infiltrates the Parks’ home, pretending to be unrelated professionals. They become the perfect help, on paper, anyway.

But then things spiral. A locked basement door, a desperate former employee, and one very rainy night unravel everything. The house, pristine and polished, becomes a battleground. Bong doesn’t just tell a story, he peels back layers of society, asking us to look at who’s really living above whom. The film was a conversation starter for multiple conversations on social hierarchy and the viciousness that covers it all.

Why is Parasite the best movie of the 21st century?

There’s a reason Parasite refuses to leave the spotlight whenever we talk about the best movie of the 21st century. Bong Joon-ho takes what looks like a simple story about a poor family and a rich one, then peels back layer after layer until all that’s left is discomfort, brilliance, and a gaping silence. That’s the power of the best movie of the 21st century, it lingers long after the credits roll.

From the moment we crawl into that damp basement apartment with the Kim family, Parasite builds a world where every line of dialogue, every shadow in a hallway, every staircase means something. It’s funny until it isn’t. It’s calm until it cracks. And when it does? You’re not prepared. Because the best movie of the 21st century is an autopsy of inequality dressed up as a thriller. It made Oscar history, yes. But Parasite didn’t just win Best Picture because it ticked all the boxes. It won because it broke them. And that’s what makes it the best movie of the 21st century, it doesn’t follow rules. It rewrites them with a smile, a knife, and a stone in its hand.