Rent The Handmaiden (2016)

Beauty and savagery - The Handmaiden review by DH

A film of intense contrast. Its extraordinary cinematography is a vivid celebration of beauty, whether it be the exquisite gardens, opulent interiors, or the arresting physical beauty of its two female leads and their passion for each other. But as a counterpoint to this there's some real darkness of the human soul depicted here too. Hard to describe without spoilers, but suffice to say there are moments of grotesque violence that left me shocked and queasy. And male sexuality is presented as something irredeemably grim and sleazy, perhaps again to emphasise the gentle sensuality of the love scenes between the women. The sexual content seems to have proved controversial, although to me it's a baffling indictment of our culture that simply showing two women making love arouses so much debate whilst the cruelty and brutality depicted elsewhere in this film passes without comment.

Whilst I certainly felt challenged by its strand of Gothic nastiness I'd still recommend as a memorable and affecting experience.

Overlong and tedious - The Handmaiden review by CP Customer

Beautifully filmed, ravishing sets, but in the end I had to go to IMDb synopsis to discover what it was all about , even then there were huge plot gaps , and by the end , I didn’t really care . I would send the lot to the mental asylum to sort it out between them ( see plot !)

Clever adaptation of Fingersmith - The Handmaiden review by PL

This is a Korean adaptation of Sarah Waters' Victorian novel Fingersmith. It is beautifully shot and faithful to the novel despite its recasting from Victorian England to 1930s Korea. It is a little over-long at nearly two and a half hours.

Great film - The Handmaiden review by JW

This is a great film, brilliantly shot and featuring wonderful scenery and a story with a surprise twist near the end. The sex scenes were tastefully done.

A nasty experience - The Handmaiden review by AKL

Pornography and sadism are the main features of this truly nasty film set in Korea and Japan in the 1930s. I might have enjoyed it more had I studied the historical background prior to viewing it. But I doubt it. It was much too long and the lesbian sex scenes, which the Director clearly

relished, became annoyingly tedious. And the sado-machistic scenes, though mercifully brief, were loathsome and unnecessary.

An intriguing erotic psychological thriller that fascinates - The Handmaiden review by Philip in Paradiso

In Japanese-occupied Korea, in the early part of the 20th century, a Korean con artist pretending to be a Japanese aristocrat plans to seduce a beautiful and lonely upper-class Japanese woman, Lady Hideko, in order to marry her and get hold of her wealth. As part of the plan, a pickpocket called Sook-hee is 'planted' in the household as Hideko's maid: her mission is to encourage Hideko to marry her suitor. She is to be rewarded for her part in the plot.

What follows is an unexpected and unique blend of psychological thriller, sentimental drama, eroticism, pornography even, and horror to produce a movie like none other I have seen recently: relishing its perverse and deviant inspiration, and the crooked nature of its lead characters, the film is morbidly fascinating to the end. The end result of this sumptuous and well-acted production is a masterpiece. I strongly recommend it, but it is not for viewers who may be conventional or squeamish in their filmic tastes!

Superb - The Handmaiden review by CL

This film illustrates why we should watch foreign films. The directing, acting, storytelling, insights into prewar Korean & Japanese psyche are all ‘ top notch’. A most thrilling and rewarding film to watch!