Parasyte is the first part of an adaptation of the manga of the same name written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki. Manga adaptations tend to struggle with compressing these long stories into feature length narratives. But Parasyte just dives into all the craziness, ably balancing the property’s philosophical predilections with a frothy mix of action, comedy, drama, and body horror. It is a film that entertains thoroughly, and certainly something that we don’t get in our cinemas too often.
Parasites have arrived in Japan. They enter humans through their heads and take over their brains, turning them into cannibalistic monsters. Teenager Shinichi (Shota Somatani) luckily prevents one of these parasites from entering his head. It ends up in his arm instead, and much to his dismay, and entirely new being suddenly emerges from the appendage. It calls itself Migi, and it doesn't seem too concerned about what Shinichi wants. But when its fellow parasites threaten the life of its host, Migi uses his unique abilities to protect Shinichi.
The movie gets off to a remarkably quick start. It doesn't bother explaining the origin of the parasites. Instead, the film concerns itself with the consequences of their presence. What's interesting is that the parasites aren't necessarily evil. The film is markedly philosophical about their existence, the story going to really interesting places as it questions the primacy of human life. The parasites certainly look and act like monsters, but there is logical train of thought that makes a compelling argument for their continued survival. It is a rare film that offers you the perspective of the monsters that have been shown killing and eating people.
But that's just added flavor. At its core, the film is really just about delivering beautifully rendered gruesome imagery. The transformation that human hosts go through involve a particularly horrific effect; one that involves the head splitting open to reveal a mess of things that really shouldn't be there. It's an amazing visual, and that's just the starting point. The film goes on to deliver a series of increasingly disturbing images, the violence growing as the story ramps up the emotional stakes. And it’s quite the story, too. The film juggles an impressive number of narrative arcs, handling them with a deftness that seems rare in adaptations like this.
It’s all just really well done. The action sequences are ably directed, with long takes capturing the physicality of the action. The visual effects can look goofy at times, but they never fail to convey the full horror of the scenes. Shota Sometani is excellent as Shinichi. The character goes through quite the change over the course of the movie, and Sometani’s performance really helps convey the growing difference within him. He is ably supported by the rest of the cast, who all take the strangeness of the premise at face value.
Parasyte is one of those movies that somehow sneaks into our cinemas without much fanfare. I’m hoping that people get to see it. It is delightfully messed up, producing a series of indelible images that will stay will audiences far past their exit from the theater. It only suffers from the fact that the entire movie is really just buildup for the next part. It does it really well, but there’s still somewhat of a lack of narrative satisfaction. With any luck, the film will be successful enough to bring the next installment into our theaters. That promises to be an even bloodier, more philosophically complex time.
My Rating:
