That was an excellent one.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

In Japanese occupied Korea, Sook-hee is brought in as a maid to Count Fujiwara and as a handmaiden to Lady Hideko. Fujiwara is actually Korean. He intends to marry the Japanese heiress Hideko stealing her family fortune and turning himself into Japanese nobility. Sook-hee is an illiterate simpleton, illiterate both in Japanese and Korean. In reality, she comes from a 'family' of thieves hired by Fujiwara in a scheme to send Hideko into an asylum after marrying her.There is a shocking twist at the end of Part 1 which left me a little confused. One spends the rest of them movie trying to make sense of that turn of event. Honestly, I don't think it answers my questions fully to my satisfaction. I can't accept that it's the best escape plan for anybody. It's a scheme that can't be examined too deeply. It would be more definitive to fake her death. It leaves me feeling a little scammed especially since none of the characters can be believed at face value. They're all lying and I couldn't grab onto the truth. I'd rather they play it straight sending Hideko into the asylum and the Count double-crossing Sook-hee along with everybody else. She could return to rescue Hideko and fall in love. This one does feel a little constructed to shock. Honestly, my only reason to see this is that it's on the top 250 list. It's rare to have a pulpy twisty erotic thriller on the list. This one is beautiful and shot like an art piece. This is a real artistic endeavor from the nude erotica to the complex story construction. It is highly ambitious although I remain unconvinced by the twist.

A woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her. Ah-Ga-ssi or also known as The Handmaiden as well is a 2016 drama with a bunch of people that i can't even write their names down. The perfomances were horrible as i expected, the characters were bland and the sexual tension between the 2 women wasn't needed to be honest plus there's some pretty weird things that happen as well. If you're a fan of this kind of movies? check it out but if not? just go and see something better like anything.

1. I hated the finger chopping part at the end, strong no to that. The basement stuff was necessary but we could've skimmed over the physical chopping of the stuff. 2. some of the sex scenes weren't great 3. the less i had to see of that fucking octopus the better it would've been. i wanted to die. I would give it a 9 or even an 8 but I can't bring myself to because of how wonderful everything else was.

The Handmaiden succeeds as a mesmerizing piece of cinema thanks to a rich story full of twists and turns that you won't see coming, excellent camera work, superb directing, excellent costume design, and unforgettable performances by its ensemble cast. I won't reveal what the story is about as that is something you must see for yourself, but take my word for it, its worth a watch.