Lee is hired as a nanny *slash* housemaid for a well to do Korean family, comprised of the businessman father, a wife heavily pregnant with twins, and a cute young daughter. It is a well paying job under a privileged and picture perfect family, and Lee will learn under the watchful eye of Mrs Cho, an older woman who has been employed by the family for decades and knows the ‘proper way’ of performing every task throughout the day.
As some of us know being perfect is a little boring after a while. With a pregnant wife tiring and a lifetime of getting his own way, it’s a matter of time before the man of the house notices the pretty young housemaid and decides to avail himself of the ‘facilities’. Initial reluctance dissipates with the desire to keep a much needed job and the rush of catching the eye of a powerful man.
Lee decides to embrace the situation though without forcing things. There is no blackmail or threats, just wilful acceptance of egregious workplace harassment. Such a perfect situation could only be derailed by a couple things, pregnancy and being found out…
The Housemaid plays out like you think it will but also totally unlike what Hollywood would do with it. This is not The Roommate or Disclosure, even though it could have gone either of those ways.
Given that it is hard to make allusions to anything that the back half of the film may bring. Just know that it is compelling and occasionally shocking stuff, with a dark realism and a finale that will stay with you far longer than any of those Hollywood flicks mentioned above.
Final Rating – 7.5 / 10. A doomed love story with a typically dark Korean twist.
