In 1930s colonial Korea, a young woman named Sookee is hired as a handmaiden to Hideko, a reclusive Japanese heiress living in a remote estate. But Sookee isn’t who she appears to be. She’s a pickpocket, enlisted by a con artist to help steal Hideko’s inheritance. As the plan unfolds, an unexpected bond forms between the two women, upending every assumption. From master filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Decision to Leave), The Handmaiden is a gorgeously crafted, erotically charged thriller based on Sarah Waters’ novel ‘Fingersmith’.

Our screening on Saturday 5th July will be introduced by curator of this classic season, Ella Dawson-Gorton.

Reviews

‘The Handmaiden is at once a superlative thriller and a deeply erotic character study, but it’s the intelligence, mordant wit and depth of characterisation that are the real turn-ons.’
★★★★★
Andrew Lowry, Empire Magazine

‘The result is a lush, silken, erotic, disturbing, beautifully photographed drama of betrayal and passion.’
★★★★
Kate Muir, The Times