LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - South Korea's Parasite, a pitch-black comedy about haves and have-nots in modern Seoul, won the Oscar for Best International Film on Sunday (Feb 9).

The thriller, showing how struggling scammers insinuate their way into the life of a rich family, with dire consequences, was considered the front runner going into Sunday's ceremony after winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year, as well as Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards last month.

It has also proved a box-office hit, taking more than US$161 million (S$223 million) worldwide, including more than US$30 million in North America.

The movie "stays ahead of its audience every frame of the way," said The Wall Street Journal, while Variety called the film "brilliant, caustic."

Director and writer Bong Joon-ho said last month that the accolades proved that international films were breaking the language barrier with audiences.

"We can say that thanks to the Internet, social media and these streaming services, the entire society is experiencing less of these language barriers and perhaps Parasite benefited from that global trend," he said.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year changed the name of the category to International Feature Film from Foreign Language Film to reflect a more positive and inclusive approach to movies made outside Hollywood.

Parasite beat out Poland's Corpus Christi, Les Miserables from France, Spain's Pain And Glory, and Honeyland from North Macedonia.

Films from 92 countries were submitted this year.