Admirable film.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

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

Chan Wook Park RomanceA conman hires a bootlegger's daughter to help him convince a wealthy woman to marry him. As the woman and her maid come closer and closer the lines get blurred who's conning who ..P.S. :: There are graphic nude scenes, Japanese erotic-folklore--- "This is a movie for the perverted mind." - David Fincher10/10

I think this is the best film of 2017. The three-part movie narration is beautiful. The women's story is beautiful.

I try not to use that word, it's rather overused for films that just aren't masterpieces. But when a film is so gorgeous that it imitates art, so multi-dimensional that it transcends the majority of narratives and so daring that it tests the limitations of film itself...I can't help but call it a masterpiece. A rich Japanese lady recruits a handmaiden who soon turns out to be a swindler, tasked with falsifying a wedding in order to steal her money. Twists and turns soon reveal many secrets that question the legitimacy of the new handmaiden's undercover task. Immediately I was hypnotised. Park Chan-Wook has such an eye for detail, every frame is lovingly crafted and resembles a jewel on a glistening necklace. Cinematography rarely looks this gorgeous, honestly. The visceral imagery conveys multiple themes of lust, greed, jealousy...in fact, nearly all the seven deadly sins are thematically interwoven in this complex narrative. Chan-Wook played me like a puppet. Manipulating my mind with every unexpected twist. It's a story of how powerful love is. An emotion so overwhelming that people are moulded by its presence. The lead characters all experience this, whether it be falsifying love or truly experiencing it for the first time. How motivations for money and power can be blurred by love. It's just a work of art. It truly is. Deceive me once? I applaud you. Deceive me twice? I'm jumping up and down the room like a lunatic. Tiny intricacies that are soon explained within the narrative's three parts, these revelations blew my mind. With an everlasting haunting undertone, it just made the story all the more resonating. Even the musical score was stunning, replicating orchestral symphonies with traditional Asian instruments. I will say it's an 18 for a reason, the sexual nature is extremely explicit yet it doesn't detract from the seamless story. Asian cinema has yet again proven that it's better than Hollywood. The Handmaiden, easily, acquires the perfect rating.

Three times a charm as that's how many times it took me to finish this film.It was my bad that I had to start/stop this film over four or so days. Initially, I thought this was supposed to be a horror movie and while it has horrific moments, it's certainly not horror. It's more suspense, mystery, lesbian drama.In fact, I haven't seen this much graphic lesbian sex in my life. I'm no prude, but girl-on-girl action isn't my forte, so it's not on my top ten porn searches. But, if you're into that, you might be pleased when it shows up several times in the film.The movie revolves around a rich heiress who's woo'd by a scheming Count and his Maid-to-Be to get her fortune. She's somehow set to marry her uncle, but the Count's got other plans for her cash. Only, his decoy, the film's title, has other plans.While I had to start/stop this several times, it's highly recommended as it's beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, scored excellently and the twists just keep on coming that makes the whole experience worth it. Yes, it's overlong and could've been severely cut, but it pays off and in the most satisfying way. Definitely check out this Handmaiden. ***Final thoughts: Helps I have a thing for Asians and this serves both my Japanese and Korean love. Granted only one real male is predominate, he is quite the catch throughout. Luckily, I can concentrate on him while they make me watch so many naked females make love.