The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
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The Handmaiden
Thriller · Drama · Romance · 2016
1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sook-hee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to steal her fortune.
Movie details
The Handmaiden
“You're the one being tricked.”
2016 Thriller · Drama · Romance 2h 25m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
8.1 / 10
199.1K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
96 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
85 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
8.2 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sook-hee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to steal her fortune.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Handmaiden?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Park Chan-wook
Written by
Park Chan-wook · Chung Seo-kyung
Kim Min-hee
Lady Hideko
Kim Tae-ri
Sook-hee
Ha Jung-woo
Count Fujiwara
Cho Jin-woong
Uncle Kouzuki
Kim Hae-sook
Ms. Sasaki
Moon So-ri
Hideko's Aunt
Lee Yong-nyeo
Bok-soon
Court is in session
Put The Handmaiden on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Importance has entered the chat.”
The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.