Parasite in Love (2021) Review: : A Brain Parasite Turns Fear Into an Unusual Romance

 

Parasite in Love | 2021 | 1h 40m
Genre: Romance | Country: Japan
Director: Kensaku Kakimoto | Writers: Sugaru Miaki, Yukiko Yamamuro
Cast: Kento Hayashi, Nana Komatsu, Arata Iura
IMDb: 6.0
My Rating: 9/10

Hijiri and Kosaka are unsure whether the attraction they feel for each other is genuine love or merely an illusion created by the parasites living in their brains.

Warning:

Contains scenes of suicide.

What if the things we fear most are not entirely our own?

That is the thought I kept returning to while watching Parasite in Love (2021). At first, the film looks like an unusual romance between two people struggling with serious phobias. But the story gradually introduces something much stranger: the possibility that a parasite inside their brains is influencing their thoughts and feelings.

It is a strange idea, but honestly, that is also what made me curious about the film.

Kosaka (Kento Hayashi) suffers from mysophobia, an extreme fear of germs and bacteria that makes it difficult for him to function normally around other people. Even something as ordinary as someone sneezing beside him can trigger disturbing images in his mind. He covers himself almost completely with long clothing, a hat, mask, and gloves to protect himself from whatever might be around him.

Hijiri (Nana Komatsu) struggles with scopophobia, a fear or extreme discomfort caused by being looked at by other people. She is still a high school student, but her phobia has become so severe that she stops going to school. She often wears headphones to distract herself from the people around her and make herself feel safer.

When Kosaka suddenly collapses in the middle of the street, Hijiri finds him and takes him to her grandfather, who is a doctor. Almost immediately, Hijiri feels that there is something familiar about Kosaka. Their problems are different, but both of them understand what it is like to feel uncomfortable in a world that other people consider normal.

Kosaka is later persuaded by one of Hijiri's acquaintances to become her friend and find out why she refuses to go to school. He is not comfortable with the idea at first, but spending time together gradually brings them closer.

Then the story reveals something much stranger: there is a parasite inside their brains.

Suddenly, the way I had been looking at both characters changed. Their fears, their emotions, and even their attraction to each other might not be entirely under their control. The parasite becomes more than a biological element in the story. It also becomes a strange explanation for the things they have been unable to understand about themselves.

The concept itself is probably the first thing that makes Parasite in Love stand out to me. The film is adapted from Sugaru Miaki's novel Koi Suru Kiseichu, and I find the idea quite unusual. I do not often come across stories that turn a parasite into the possible source of someone's mental problems and suggest that it may even influence the thoughts and feelings of the person carrying it.

It is an unusual combination of romance, psychological themes, and fantasy, but the film presents it in a surprisingly systematic way.

One thing I really appreciate is that the story does not waste many words. The dialogues feel purposeful, and the plot is presented quite clearly. The backgrounds of the main characters are also developed well, so I can understand why they behave the way they do instead of simply being told that they have a phobia.

That matters to me because the emotional side of the story depends heavily on understanding these two characters. Their fears are not just labels attached to them. Their phobias affect the way they move through daily life, interact with people, and understand relationships.

The performances also make a strong impression on me. Nana Komatsu does a very good job portraying Hijiri's discomfort with being watched. Her expressions and body language make it easy to understand how much pressure she feels when she becomes the center of someone's attention.

Kento Hayashi also feels very natural as Kosaka. His performance never seems overly forced, even though his character has to react to situations that are difficult to portray realistically. I imagine showing a severe phobia through acting is not easy because the actor has to make the fear visible without making the character feel exaggerated.

The technical presentation supports the story well too. The music is adjusted to the mood of each scene and helps build the atmosphere. The camera movement and editing are also handled nicely.

I particularly notice how the film uses close-ups and extreme close-ups when it wants us to pay attention to small details. Some scenes are also shown in slow motion when the atmosphere needs to feel different. The CGI is relatively smooth and does not feel overly excessive, which helps the more fantastical elements fit into the story.

Still, there are a few small details that made me pause.

One inconsistency appears when Kosaka and Hijiri seem to struggle while being inside a café, almost as though it is their first time being there together. Earlier in the story, however, they had already met in a café without showing the same level of fear. Because the characters' phobias are such an important part of the story, I notice these inconsistencies more easily.

There is also the question of why Kosaka, who is extremely afraid of germs and physical contact, would be the one to invite Hijiri to meet him at a café. Once they are there, he can also calmly drink coffee from a glass provided by the café.

I know these details are relatively small, and they do not ruin the story for me. Still, they create a slight feeling of inconsistency. When a character's entire life is shaped by a particular fear, I naturally expect the film to remain very consistent with that fear.

Even with those flaws, I think the overall story is presented very well. The relationship between Kosaka and Hijiri also develops naturally, and their chemistry is one of the reasons the film remains engaging.

What I find especially interesting is that their relationship begins because they recognize something of themselves in each other. They are both isolated, both uncomfortable in social situations, and both trying to survive in a world that constantly makes them feel unsafe.

Maybe that is why their connection feels more believable than it might seem at first.

They do not fall for each other simply because they are attracted to one another. They also understand each other's loneliness.

That makes one particular scene especially memorable to me.

Hijiri is devastated when her grandfather asks her to undergo treatment that could potentially remove the feelings of love she has developed for Kosaka. The possibility of losing those feelings feels unbearable to her.

Kosaka, despite his own fear of germs and physical contact, puts that fear aside and embraces Hijiri tightly to comfort her.

I really like this scene because it shows something the film has been building toward all along. Kosaka spends so much of his life trying to protect himself from contact with the outside world, yet when Hijiri is hurting, he is willing to cross his own emotional and physical boundaries for her.

That makes the embrace more meaningful than a simple romantic gesture.

It reminds me that when we genuinely care about someone, our priorities can change. Things that once felt impossible may suddenly feel worth facing. It does not mean that fear disappears. It means that, for a moment, something else becomes more important.

The line, “Let's get treated and do normal stuff again,” also feels meaningful in that context. Both characters have spent so much time living outside what other people consider normal that the idea of simply doing ordinary things together becomes a kind of dream.

And that is perhaps the part of Parasite in Love that stayed with me most.

We often think of love as something that makes life more exciting. But sometimes, for people who have spent most of their lives feeling isolated, love may simply mean being able to experience ordinary life without feeling alone.

The film's fantasy element may revolve around a parasite, but its emotional core feels much more human. It asks us to think about how much of our identity is shaped by fear, how much of our behavior is influenced by things we do not understand, and how much courage it can take to let another person come close.

I also think there is something quietly comforting about seeing two people who are both struggling find a connection with each other. Neither of them suddenly becomes a completely different person. Their problems do not simply disappear. What changes is that they no longer have to face everything entirely by themselves.

For me, that is why Parasite in Love (2021) is worth watching. The concept is unusual, the story is well structured, the performances are convincing, and the romance works because the characters understand each other's loneliness. There are a few inconsistencies that could have been handled better, but they do not take away from the overall experience.

In the end, I was left thinking about something much simpler than parasites and phobias.

Sometimes, the hardest thing is not defeating the fear itself. It is finding a reason strong enough to make us face it.

And perhaps that is something worth asking ourselves: what would you be willing to face if there were someone you truly did not want to lose?

(Aluna Uwie)

Had been published in Alunauwie.com

"This article was originally written in Indonesian and has been adapted into English for international readers."

 

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