The Handmaiden (Agassi) is more than just a lesbian film — it is a labyrinth of love, deceit, and liberation. Adapted from Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith but transposed to 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, the film blends gothic suspense, erotic charge, and political undertones. Park Chan-wook delivers a story where a conman’s elaborate scheme collides with two women’s unexpected bond, turning betrayal into salvation and lust into radical love.
Count Fujiwara, a swindler posing as a Japanese nobleman, plots to marry the wealthy Lady Hideko, declare her insane, and steal her fortune. To aid his plan, he plants a young pickpocket, Sook-hee, as Hideko’s handmaiden. But inside the claustrophobic estate, filled with perverse readings of erotic literature and suffocating patriarchal control, Sook-hee and Hideko form a connection that transcends manipulation.
What begins as trickery unravels into a fierce romance. While Sook-hee wrestles with her loyalty to Fujiwara and her growing desire for Hideko, Hideko herself reveals layers of trauma, wit, and survival. Together, they twist the trap back on the men who sought to exploit them, reclaiming agency over their bodies, their futures, and their love.
The Handmaiden Cast
Charactor
The enigmatic heiress raised in captivity, forced to perform erotic readings for her perverse uncle. Hideko’s transformation from a seemingly passive victim to a calculating survivor is the film’s emotional core.
Kim Min-hee (김민희)
Kim Min-hee, acclaimed for her subtle intensity, later starred in Hong Sang-soo’s arthouse films (On the Beach at Night Alone, The Novelist’s Film), but The Handmaiden remains her most internationally iconic role.
A bold pickpocket recruited to deceive Hideko, Sook-hee’s earthy humor and stubborn heart turn her from conspirator to rescuer. Her journey is one of awakening — discovering both love and moral clarity.
Kim Tae-ri (김태리)
Kim Tae-ri’s film debut here was explosive; she went on to headline Mr. Sunshine, Space Sweepers, and Twenty-Five Twenty-One, establishing herself as one of Korea’s most versatile actresses.
A conman with aristocratic airs, his manipulation sets the plot in motion. His charm conceals greed and cruelty, yet his gradual obsession with Hideko unravels him.
Ha Jung-woo (하정우)
Ha Jung-woo is a leading actor in Korean cinema (The Chaser, Along with the Gods), bringing gravitas and menace to Fujiwara’s role.
A bibliophile and sadist, Kouzuki imprisons Hideko to exploit her as a reader of pornography. He represents patriarchal corruption in its most grotesque form.
Cho Jin-woong (조진웅)
Cho Jin-woong is known for his range across crime dramas (A Hard Day, Signal) and delivers a chilling performance here.
Director
Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook, known for Oldboy and Stoker, brings his signature blend of cruelty and beauty to The Handmaiden. While his male gaze remains debated, his adaptation of Fingersmith subverts patriarchy by placing two women at the center of betrayal and liberation. Park’s cinematic language — symmetry, fetish objects, and dark humor — elevates the lesbian love story into gothic grandeur.
BEST SCENES
📍 The Bell Scene – Hideko yanks the cord until the bell breaks, summoning Sook-hee into her bed. What follows is a conversation that slips into desire, leading to their first kiss — hesitant, tender, then consuming.
📍 The Bathtub Scene – Sook-hee files Hideko’s tooth with a thimble. The erotic charge is palpable in their proximity, breath, and gaze — intimacy disguised as caretaking.
📍 The Rope & Book Burning – Together, they destroy the uncle’s pornographic collection, reclaiming control over Hideko’s body and narrative.
📍 The Final Boat Escape – After betrayal, madness, and blood, the women escape together. Their laughter, playful touches, and use of bells transform trauma into freedom.
The Handmaiden Review
Review
Story (5/5)
The film’s three-part structure is ingenious — shifting perspectives between the maid, the lady, and the conman creates a puzzle box of lies and revelations. Each retelling adds new weight to gestures, glances, and words. Beneath its suspense-thriller skin lies a love story about two women finding freedom in each other, set against systemic violence and oppression.
Acting (5/5)
Kim Min-hee as Lady Hideko is hauntingly fragile yet sly, a woman conditioned by abuse yet capable of sharp defiance. Kim Tae-ri, in her breakout role as Sook-hee, balances comedic bluntness with aching devotion. Their performances fuel the narrative, especially their shifting power dynamics — from deception to equality, from survival to intimacy.
Chemistry (5/5)
The lesbian chemistry in The Handmaiden is unmatched — every touch, every eye contact simmers with electricity. The erotic scenes are not gratuitous but emotionally loaded, portraying queer intimacy as both rebellion and sanctuary. Few films have captured sapphic desire with such intensity, humor, and tenderness.
Production (5/5)
Park Chan-wook’s mastery of aesthetics is on full display: lush gardens, oppressive interiors, chiaroscuro lighting, meticulous costume design, and symbolic motifs (bells, ropes, gloves, octopus). The sound design and Jo Yeong-wook’s score intensify the sensual and the sinister alike. Each frame is painterly, echoing both Western gothic and Japanese art traditions.
Ending (4.5/5)
The revenge climax against the sadistic uncle and the conman’s downfall is satisfying, yet the third act indulges in Park’s flair for cruelty. Still, the final scene — Hideko and Sook-hee on the boat, finally free, bells chiming with desire — redeems the brutality with a note of playful triumph.
💬 My Take
I’ve watched The Handmaiden three times, and each time it feels like peeling new layers of deception and intimacy. At first, I was skeptical — would Park Chan-wook only deliver a glossy erotic thriller? But the film proved to be so much more. It’s a daring lesbian masterpiece, both sensual and sinister, where love becomes an act of rebellion.
Yes, some argue it leans into voyeurism, but for me, Hideko and Sook-hee’s bond never loses authenticity. Their laughter in the final escape is one of the most liberating moments I’ve seen in queer cinema. For all its cruelty, The Handmaiden is ultimately about two women choosing each other against the world — and that is why it deserves its place as one of the greatest lesbian films of all time.
Comparison with the Novel & BBC Adaptation
Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden (2016) offers a bold reinterpretation of Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith (2002) and the BBC mini-series adaptation (2005). While the original story and the British drama are rooted in Victorian England, focusing on psychological tension and betrayal, Park relocates the tale to 1930s Korea under Japanese occupation, adding layers of colonial oppression and cultural conflict.
Unlike the BBC version, which remains restrained and faithful to the subtle romance of the book, The Handmaiden embraces visual excess: lavish sets, striking cinematography, and unapologetically explicit intimacy. The novel’s ambiguous ending, tinged with pain and uncertainty, becomes in Park’s hands a triumphant escape, transforming the story into a declaration of women’s solidarity and liberation.
In short, the BBC drama reflects Victorian repression, the novel reveals psychological complexity, and the Korean film reshapes the narrative into a defiant lesbian love story that is both subversive and unforgettable.
The Handmaiden Information
Awards & Recognition 🏆
Cannes Film Festival (2016) – In Competition for Palme d’Or, won Vulcan Award of the Technical Artist
BAFTA Awards (2018) – Nominated, Best Film Not in the English Language
Blue Dragon Film Awards (2016, Korea) – Won Best New Actress (Kim Tae-ri)
Asian Film Awards (2017) – Won Best Production Design, Best Costume Design