Parasyte: The Grey. A 2024 series review

The series is an adaptation of the manga parasite series written by Hitoshi Iwaki. I am not a fan of long series, and that is why this movie made it to my watch list. Majorly because of the short watch duration and the number of episodes (it has just six episodes).

The parasite’s larva suddenly invaded the earth with a mission to “eat humankind”. So, they kill the humans, eat up their brains and take control of their whole body changing them into ugly looking creatures with multiple abilities. Then, they hunt for other humans also seeking out the powerful ones so they can expand their reach. The parasites grow stronger the longer they live in humans, especially when they are lucky enough to possess the body of a highly intelligent human.

Jeon Su-in acted the double-personality so well that you would think that she lives as double human in real life. In this series, she is a mutated parasite. She exists as both a parasite named ‘Heidi’ and human (Su-in) because the parasite could not take a complete control of her brain, so they had to coexist in one body. One thing I like about her existence as a parasite and human is the fact that they have a mutual relationship even though I was angry at her at some point because tell me why she takes the risks that she knows could send her to the grave. “Avoid danger for the next three hours because Heidi would not be available to help”, but no. she went directly ahead inside that danger. Kang-woo came to her rescue though.

Seong Kang-woo, a partner to Su-in was a human and a “wanted” member of a gang by some other gangster groups. He lost his kid sister to the parasite who had possessed the body of his big sister. His carelessness almost got him killed. I like his role though. He introduced a little bit of humour into the series. And he was the first messenger between Heidi and Su-in. He later joined ‘The Grey’ team.

Captain Choi would have been my favourite in this series, but I didn’t like the fact that the people she was supposed to trust are the ones she’s hunting to kill. I know it’s hard to trust a parasite, but, at least, just a little patience and observation would’ve given her all the hint she needed. Overall, I love her acting. She is the no-nonsense team lead of The Grey team that are actively working to rid the earth of all the parasites. Her husband was killed by one of the parasites, and his body was taken over just like the others, but she captured the parasite that has replaced her husband and used him as a hunting dog for other parasites. It takes a lot of strength to be able to do that. The hunting dog later got killed by a traitor police officer who was greedy for money and power.

The traitor was Kang Won-seok. I’ve seen him many times in movies, and he has always been a traitor. He didn’t disappoint in delivering his role as a traitor very well though. I mean he got his fellow officer killed, and almost got the mayor killed too all because he wanted a seat in the National Assembly.

The effect in this series is so good that if not for the realization of it being a movie, you most likely would think aliens have truly invaded the earth. For me, this movie is a 9/10. There was no single boring scene.

If you watched Train to Busan and you enjoyed it, you definitely will enjoy watching this. And, If you are a fan of sci-fi and horror genres, this will make a very good watch for you.

All images are gotten from the series scenes.

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