Semibasement

In what has become the South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's highest-grossing film, a struggling family of four, the Kims, who live in a semi-basement apartment in a forgotten warren of Seoul, ingratiate themselves through lies, document forgeries, and beguiling charm into service roles at the pristine home of the rich Park family.

Many property owners converted their basements into secondary suites in cities like Vancouver, where semibasements are typical. These owners ingeniously created thousands of new housing units by adding extra living space, converting underused spaces, and creatively carving out space.