Everyone enjoys watching classic movies during the holidays, but trying something different this year might feel like a breath of fresh air. So, this year, check out StreamCatcher and watch Oscar-winning K-drama Parasite anywhere in the world.
This movie illustrates the struggles of a poor family living in Seoul which started working for a crazy rich family. But not everything is just as dark as it seems – Parasite also sprinkles in a lot of funny moments. So snuggling up on the couch with a piece of hot ramyeon while watching this drama will feel like a well-deserved relaxing time.
Is the K-Drama Parasite Available on Netflix?
Yes, but it’s only available to stream on Netflix in just 5 countries:
- South Korea
- Japan
- Canada
- Argentina
- Colombia
If you’re from a different part of the world – don’t worry, you can still watch Parasite.
How Can You Unblock Parasite on Netflix with a VPN?
When you’re on the internet, the device and the websites you’re on (including Netflix) exchange data constantly. So this means 2 things:
- Your ISP knows what you’re doing online.
- Websites and streaming services know your location (city, country, ZIP code).
So let’s say you’re located in the US and want to watch Parasite. But because Netflix can see your IP address, it knows that you’re from the US so it won’t let you watch this title. Instead, it will redirect you to the US library (which doesn’t have Parasite).
But the VPN’s main job is to hide your IP address and encrypt your traffic. That means the VPN will re-route your traffic through a VPN server so the websites you access won’t know who you are and where you are from.
For example, if you’re connected to a Canadian VPN server, Netflix won’t see that your original IP address is from the US. They’ll just think that someone from Canada is trying to access the Canadian Netflix library so they’ll let you connect to it.
And the good news is that even if you’re not a tech-savvy person, installing and using a VPN is easy.
Unblocking Netflix with a VPN in 5 Easy Steps
- Download the VPN app and install it.
- Connect to a VPN server located in a country where Parasite is available.
- Log in to your Netflix account.
- Fill up your ramyeon bowl with hot water and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
- The obvious thing – enjoy Parasite.
But keep in mind that not just every VPN can unblock Netflix! Some VPNs don’t refresh their IPs constantly, so they get blocked by Netflix and you’ll end up seeing the Netflix proxy error.
We’ve run tests on 20+ VPN services, and we’ve seen that top VPN providers like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark performed the best. They unblock the most popular Netflix libraries – Canada, Japan, the US, and the UK.
Even better, these VPNs maintained fast streaming speeds on distant servers. So we’ve experienced no problems (like buffering or freezes).
Can You Use a Free VPN to Unblock Parasite on Netflix?
Yes, but there are high chances it won’t unblock your movie – here’s a quick explanation why.
When Netflix detects that a VPN IP address is trying to log in to their library, they’ll ban it. With that IP address blocked, the VPN can’t use it anymore to log you into Netflix, so it has to refresh it.
Now imagine that Netflix can block VPN IP addresses once per day. That means that the VPN provider needs to refresh their IP address a few times per day so it can offer you an IP address that hasn’t been banned yet.
But how can a VPN have so many IP addresses even though Netflix blocks them regularly? Because a paid VPN can afford to invest in a large server network and maintaining them properly with the money they get when people pay for their services.
However, free VPNs are… free. Because they don’t charge you any money, they can’t afford such a well-developed server network to constantly refresh its IP addresses on a regular basis. Maybe they do it once a month or so – so the chances to get an IP address that Netflix has already banned are quite high.
Can Netflix See That I’m Watching Parasite from Another Country with a VPN?
Yes – when you’re watching Netflix, your VPN connection might suddenly drop, meaning Netflix can see your IP. Most paid VPNs have this important security feature called a kill switch. This feature automatically disconnects your device from the internet when your VPN connection drops (so you won’t experience IP leaks).
But most free VPNs lack this security feature.
So if you use a free VPN and your connection suddenly drops, Netflix might see your real IP address and disconnect you from the library. Even worse, your ISP can see that you’re eating “too much” data when you’re watching Netflix. So, they’ll throttle your bandwidth and that can ruin your whole weekend.
How Do You Like to Unblock Your Favorite Shows on Netflix?
There are 2 other ways to unblock content on Netflix:
- Smart DNS
- Proxy
Compared to a VPN, these services can offer you better speeds, but they have weak encryption.
So even if your Netflix movies run smoothly, with weak encryption your ISP will see that you’re binging Netflix. They will throttle your bandwidth so you can’t enjoy your favorite movies anymore.
However, some people aren’t bothered by this and prefer to use these services anyway. They do it once or twice a month to watch a quick movie. So they don’t go over the data usage limit anyway.
But what about you? Let us know in the comments how you like to unblock your favorite shows on Netflix!