The Handmaiden poster

The Handmaiden (2016)

Movie · 2016 · 2h 25m · Korean

ThrillerDramaRomance

You're the one being tricked.

8.1/10
★★★★★

Hadath score · #111 in movies

Early score, from viewers around the world. It shifts as Hadath viewers rate.

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1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sook-hee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to steal her fortune.

Director
Park Chan-wook
Starring
Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong, Kim Hae-sook, Moon So-ri
Released
1 Jun 2016
Country
South Korea

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Reviews from around the world

Excerpts of reviews written by viewers elsewhere. Not counted in the Hadath score.
Alunauwie
9/10

The Handmaiden, adapted from Sarah Waters' Fingersmith, masterfully transposes the 19th-century London setting to 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, creating a rich and visually stunning historical backdrop. Told in three intricately woven chapters, the film unfolds with gripping suspense, emotional depth, and narrative twists that keep viewers fully engaged. With award-winning cinematography, meticulous artistic direction, and powerful performances—especially from debut actress Kim Tae Ri—The Handmaiden stands out as a bold, sensual, and unforgettable…

CinemaSerf
7/10

Talk about the best laid plans! This is a cracking, sexy, thriller set in Korea during the Japanese occupation of the 1930s. It centres around the charming, butter-wouldn't-melt "Sook-Hee" (Tae Ri Kim) who takes a job attending the wealthy "Lady Hideko" (Kim Min-hee). She lives on a grand estate with her cantankerous uncle "Kouzuki" (Cho Jin-woong) and is frankly rather low maintenance for her new maid. Pretty quickly, though, we begin to smell a rat! Is she what she seems, and what has the obviously duplicitous "Count" (Ha Jung-woo) got to do with…

Reno
8/10

In the circle of romance, deceive and defraud. Those who are into the world cinema, particularly the Korean, knows Park Chan-wook very well. But if you don't, then you must. His films are definitely for the grown ups. Like everybody else, my admiration for his work has started a decade ago with the film 'Oldboy'. He had tried his luck in Hollywood with 'Stoker'. Despite a good entertainer, it was criticised. I love Park Chan-wook doing hundred masterpieces like this in Korea than trying to do one in Hollywood. His ability to turn the good book into a…

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