“They want to show off that they have this sophisticated taste,” Bong is quoted in an Architectural Digest interview. In lieu of a television set, the living room’s vast window wall allows the Parks to enjoy floor-to-ceiling views of their manicured lawn that boasts round-shaped plants.

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The artwork and props are equally expensive: a US$120,000 forest created from stainless steel mesh by Park Seong-mo is in the living room; while US$50,000’s worth of cat art hanging on the second floor was created for the movie. Remember the trash can that was essential in framing the housekeeper with tuberculosis? It’s from a German brand and is priced at US$2,300.

The way “Kevin” arrives at the Park residence for the first time shows us a stark contrast in his family’s dwelling versus the Parks’: he ascends into the lawn bathed in sunshine. A home receiving a healthy amount of sunlight, the rest of the house is accentuated by natural light that gives its impeccable interiors a subtle glow, as if in a museum.

The only dreary part of the Park residence is the secret bunker below the basement. To get there, Lee created a long and winding staircase that seems endless. “Because it is a space unfamiliar to everyone, walking down the stairs actually takes your breath away. I think acting on such a set may have helped the cast’s performance,” Lee told Vulture.

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The Kims’ semi-basement flat

The patriarch of the Kim family, Ki-taek, poses as a high-class family driver, but he cannot mask his scent. In the film, Mr Park likens his smell to that of a boiling rag, or the smell of people who take the subway. His son Da-song can detect the scent on Ki-taek, too – and on the rest of the Kim family.

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Creating the set for the Kims’ semi-basement, designer Ha-jun had to scavenge worn and grimy materials that had been in use for 10 to 20 years. The Kims’ flat had to be accurately shown “since you cannot convey it through smell”, director Bong said in a Vulture report.

Having lived in a similar space during college, Lee recalled in an Indiewire interview: “I remember complaining about how mouldy and inconvenient the bathroom was”, noting how he deliberately raised the bathroom floor for it to sit uncomfortably too close to the ceiling. Ironically, we see in the film how Kim’s daughter Ki-jeong would have to climb up to use the toilet, smoke a cigarette, or hunt for a Wi-fi signal.

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The Kims’ need to “climb” in to get into the outside world is indicative of their position in society. “You’re still half overground, so there’s this hope and this sense that you still have access to sunlight and you haven’t completely fallen to the basement yet. It’s this weird mixture of hope and this fear that you can fall even lower. I think that really corresponds to how the protagonists feel,” Bong explained in Architectural Digest.

On that rainy night, the Kim family had to go through numerous staircases down to their home, to show us how far below they are living. That flood scene was essential to the film, and shot entirely on a set to drown the neighbourhood. While the Kims were forced to evacuate because of the flood, the Parks thought the sudden rains were “such a blessing”.

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