Discover The Best Movies and TV Shows Like The Handmaiden Right Now

Set in 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, Park Chan-wook’s psychological thriller *The Handmaiden* unfolds across three distinct, deeply intricate parts. The story follows Sook-hee, a nimble pickpocket raised in a den of thieves, who is hired as a handmaiden to Lady Hideko, a wealthy and reclusive Japanese heiress living in a sprawling, isolated countryside estate. Sook-hee’s hidden agenda is orchestrated by a con man who calls himself Count Fujiwara. The Count aims to elope with Hideko, commit her to a lunatic asylum, and steal her massive inheritance, splitting the fortune with Sook-hee.Initially, Sook-hee views her mistress with pity, believing Hideko is hopelessly naive and entirely subservient to her sadistic, book-collecting uncle, Kouzuki. As Sook-hee spends more time aiding Hideko, bathing her, and enduring Kouzuki's grotesque literary salons where he performs erotic texts for wealthy men, the two women develop a profound emotional and physical intimacy. This bond complicates Sook-hee’s mission, breeding genuine affection and guilt over the impending betrayal.Eventually, the plot reaches its first major turning point when the wedding and subsequent asylum committal take place. However, the narrative perspective abruptly shifts, revealing a shocking twist: Hideko is not the vulnerable heiress Sook-hee thought she was. In fact, Hideko was an active participant in the scheme from the very beginning. Raised by the abusive Kouzuki to read erotic novels aloud to perverted audiences, Hideko had always planned to use the Count to escape her prison. She originally intended to betray Sook-hee, framing the handmaiden as the madwoman to secure her own freedom.However, Hideko’s genuine love for Sook-hee alters her resolve. Having orchestrated a double-cross of her own, Hideko had planned to hang herself out of despair until Sook-hee’s authentic devotion convinced her to live. The narrative's final act unites the two women in a brilliant revenge plot against both the Count and Uncle Kouzuki.They turn the men's greed and arrogance against them. Hideko and Sook-hee drug the Count and Kouzuki during a lavish, debaucherous dinner party, leaving them incapacitated. They then systematically dismantle Kouzuki’s terrifying domain, destroying his priceless, pornographic library and escaping with his stolen wealth. Disguised as men, the two women board a ship to Shanghai, finally free from their pasts. The film concludes with Sook-hee and Hideko embracing their hard-won liberation, finding solace, passion, and true autonomy in each other's arms on the open sea, having successfully outsmarted the patriarchal and colonial forces that sought to exploit them.