Park Chan-wook is a brutal director. Oldboy is probably the best Korean film ever made, but his latest effort might just top it. The Handmaiden is a psychological thriller that revolves around a plot to marry and steal the money of a rich orphan. The film takes a violent turn in th form of the girl’s uncle who is a sexual deviant and a violent masochist. What Park does best is twists the film to take it beyond the standard thriller and into something more. He also uses the language barrier extremely well, with characters alternating between Korean and Japanese, seemingly for no reason, but more than likely there is one. He takes a relatively unknown cast and turns them into an ensemble who play off each other extremely well. His ability to focus on so many silmultaneous moments while somehow focuses on none makes this film a great a spellbinding thriller that deserves high praise.
Great film with a great cast that keeps you guessing right up to the end.
It never fails to hold my attention and earns a high score of…
4.5 out of 5
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