The Handmaiden is a beautifully constructed film - the Rashomon-esque story structure is built with masterful craftsmanship. The three lead actors are superb. The design of the primary mansion set is exquisite. The Handmaiden served my every movie desire with beguiling aplomb. *A+*

In Korea under Japanese rule, a forger posing as an aristocrat (Ha Jung-woo) develops a Machiavellian plot to steal an inheritance. He enlists an orphaned thief (Kim Tae-ri) to become a maid to his wealthy target (Kim Min-hee), who lives in almost total isolation in an opulent and secluded manor owned by her cruel uncle (Cho Jin-woong). She will spy on her lady and whisper ideas in her purportedly naïve ear. This is but the first step in The Handmaiden, an erotic and Gothic suspense drama which frequently turns left, right, inside out, and upside down, destabilizing the audience by teasing and then capsizing our expectations of the central characters' allegiances, identities, and motives. Evocative both of canonical Gothic literature (Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca) and such intricate David Mamet puzzle boxes as House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner, The Handmaiden is a grand and devilish entertainment directed with characteristic morbid flair by genre favorite Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Stoker).

A-

everyone likes a little asian lesbian fetish porn

Of course, but The Handmaiden is also so much more than that.

**** / ***** (B)

A movie with two excellent chapter and a final one that kind of nearly destroys the movie by jumping the shark with all the twist nesting as if it was a Matryoshka doll. At that point I kind of just wanted the movie to end and really wasn't invested HOW it would end which is a shame as what preceded that final chapter was mesmerizing, intriguing and stylish as hell. Still, overall it's a very good movie.

I really loved this movie, surprised the hell out of me.

I'm surprised that no one else here has seen this in the year and a half since its release.