The Handmaiden

what the fuck First off I wanna say this was pretty hard to watch, mainly Act 2. Act 1 was fine tbh up to that point I was cooling, I think they did a great job with the sexual tension but once the pot was all the way stirred man it was rough. The imagery and constant sexual content was just very tough to sit through honestly. The dialogue of Hideko reading from the books was just so disgusting I was ready to turn it off. I understand it’s essential to the plot, it wouldn’t be The Handmaiden without it, and this is how they want to make you feel but I can’t change how I felt about it. Besides that which is the main reason The Handmaiden doesn’t sit quite right with me. it’s an amazing movie. Cinematography? perfection. Visually, this film is stunning, camera work is just fantastic I can’t even explain my feelings for it. I was so immersed into it and is one of the most beautifully shot films I’ve seen. Great color in this movie and the lighting too.  The plot twists? I swear I was tricked like 10 different times. Unlike a bunch of movies (yes I mean The Usual Suspects) once you dive back into the scenes before the plot twists, you see what you missed, and the twists actually makes sense. No lie I was hurt when they ran game on Sookhe I thought it was over. A masterclass in manipulating an audience.  Emotional payoff? Park actually takes the time to build the relationship between Hideko and Sookhe, so when Sookhe gets put into the madhouse, you feel something, so when they escape, you feel something. The scene where Sookhe finds out what Hideko has been “reading” might be my favorite of this movie. Such a powerful scene, I could genuinely feel her anger.    Verdict: A spellbindingly beautiful movie, and with that being said, I’m never watching this shit again.