The Handmaiden (2016)
Added 2025-02-17 15:00:18 +0000 UTCHere’s the movie for the month! That was interesting.
Comments
we already watched 2521 on here btw... check out the collections tab for all the different shows.
Big Body & Bok
2025-11-16 02:05:31 +0000 UTCI also watched Taeri's work in the same chronological order as you guys did. I went back rewatching 2521 after this and I was amazed by her acting EVEN MORE than the first time!!!!!! (try it if you have time, 2521 is the best drama everrrrrrrrrr 😭 forever worth rewatching). Bur honestly I love every single show/movie of her, they all have such unique/deep messages and all different from the usual romantic/romcom kdramas out there. I read somewhere that she is very strict in choosing scripts as well as directors to work with too, so that's why despite being in the industry for sooo long, she only had 4 shows:) and we all know they're all super succesful. I can't wait to see more from her.
Chau
2025-11-16 01:53:43 +0000 UTCI didn't know "The Handmaiden" is a comedy. I couldn't stop laughing because it was so funny how shocked you guys were by this movie. Your reactions were so funny😁
B ernhard
2025-05-29 03:27:44 +0000 UTCI was wondering what your reaction would be😂😂 the first time I didn't want to watch this bcs I heard some spoilers, but once I got the courage to watch bcs I am such a fan of taeri s acting. I wanted to see the range and… 😂😭 I regretted. But after I was amazed at how she could portray such a character as her first bug screen role.
Guldana Bazarbayeva
2025-04-10 18:38:57 +0000 UTCKim Taeri is definitely a brave and super-talented actress. She famously beat 1500 other actresses for The Handmaiden role, but there’s a bit more to that story. Before The Handmaiden, KTR “failed” many auditions because she was regarded as “too old” to be a rookie. She hadn’t planned to audition for The Handmaiden because it was dauntingly a major movie with a big-name director. Park Chan-Wook wanted a rookie actress to contrast with Kim Min-Hee but wasn’t satisfied with anyone he saw. One of his producers then went through the books of talent agencies to see if there was someone they missed. He found KTR and met her a couple of times to persuade her to audition. Her agency advised her to audition for the experience and said it was OK if she didn’t get the role. PCW apparently decided to cast KTR within 15 minutes of meeting her, and she then had to decide whether she would do the role. The rest is history, and I don’t think KTR has ever had to audition again (she was shoulder-tapped to do Mr Sunshine before she saw the script and Revenant was written for her). When The Handmaiden’s sex scenes were filmed, the male staff were given the day off. Only a female boom operator was present, and the camera was remote-controlled. Many think that the final sex scene is overkill and male gazey, but it’s symbolic to show Hideko’s literal and metaphorical liberation. All she knew about sex was from books and very twisted, but with Sookee she learns about love and pleasure.
AC Joe
2025-03-12 06:33:06 +0000 UTC😩
Big Body & Bok
2025-02-21 09:23:37 +0000 UTCI agree with you. While I wouldn't say that Korea has been progressive regarding homosexuality, at least until the early 2000s, homophobia wasn't particularly widespread. It was more of an unfamiliar concept rather than something people actively opposed. Hatred often arises when something becomes a social issue, but since homosexuality was never really a major societal controversy, the media didn't necessarily focus on the "same-sex" aspect but rather on the "love" aspect. Because of this, homosexual themes could appear more frequently in media back then compared to now. Of course, even then, homosexuality was often portrayed as an "impossible love," but I believe that audiences were not particularly discriminatory in their reception of such stories, which made the overall atmosphere feel more progressive than today. At the very least, people acknowledged that those in same-sex relationships were just like everyone else—people who love. That’s why The King and the Clown, the most famous Korean film with a homosexual theme, became such a huge hit. In Korea, the measure of a film's mainstream success is whether it surpasses 10 million viewers, and The King and the Clown managed to achieve that. (Of course, if even ignorance itself can be considered a form of discrimination, then this perspective might not be entirely free from bias. However, I still believe that, at the very least, people back then weren’t actively engaging in discrimination.)
key
2025-02-20 17:16:28 +0000 UTCwow you guys are prudes 😂
Thao
2025-02-19 02:14:46 +0000 UTC💀💀💀
Big Body & Bok
2025-02-18 15:51:24 +0000 UTCOh, what a nice Valentine's Day surprise. Thanks for the reaction. I guess my takeaway from this reaction is: "Is that a di** in a vial???"
Cheol-Woo Park
2025-02-18 10:05:29 +0000 UTCI think homosexuality or at least some homosexual themes and imagery is not that uncommon in (older) Korean films, often erotic and maybe to some people’s surprise very successful and critically acclaimed. South Korean cinema (films) tends to be more progressive compared to other forms of media I’d say. Some I can think of would be “The King and the Clown” (2005) starring Lee Joongi which addressed male homosexuality in theater troupes in Joseon era, “A Frozen Flower” (2008) where Zo Insung played the King’s guard as well as his lover and “Bungee Jumping of Their Own” (2001) where Lee Byunghun played a man whose girlfriend dies and is reincarnated as a boy. Although all the movies I mentioned depict male homosexuality I think in regards to The Handmaiden it’s still important to address that female homosexuality tends to be more easily eroticized and maybe less controversial in mainstream media. I’m a bisexual woman myself and I definitely feel like this movie catered to the male gaze quite a bit with some of the scenes. I think it’s rather interesting how the movie criticized the sexualization and objectification of women by men but still ended up doing the same things in its portrayal, at least in my eyes. Still I think it’s a very good movie (I saw it as a teenager with my father, I do not recommend 💀) and was thoroughly impressed. Although I said that it shows a lesbian relationship in this very sexualized way I appreciate the depth of the story and the characters and it is a very thrilling watch!
Mali
2025-02-18 01:41:53 +0000 UTCfamily movie for sure, I actually watched it with my dad when I was a teenager and it was incredibly awkward 😂
Mali
2025-02-17 22:45:04 +0000 UTCI was wondering if you would react to this because, you know... But guess what? You did! I agree with you on the sex scenes—most of them were necessary to show their relationship, but the one at the end makes me feel very weird too. You should watch Taeri's latest drama too, Jeong Nyeon. She took dancing and singing lessons for three years for that show. I can't wait to see your reactions to it—it's a straight-up Taeri acting party
Hatice Nur
2025-02-17 20:02:52 +0000 UTCI hope you react to "The love in the big city" (Youth genre) with Kim Goeun in it, it's 2024 movie. Also "Love 911" (Rom-com) or "Always" (Melodrama) with Han Hyojoo
Sammy 123
2025-02-17 19:26:11 +0000 UTCmore information : ✔️ This movie is based on the movie ‘Finger smith’, but the storyline is actually a bit different from the second half. ✔️ During the lead casting process, it became a hot topic when the condition was set that the actor had to perform intense nude scenes with no room for negotiation on the level of explicitness. ✔️ Also, Taeri was cast with a 1500:1 competition ratio. ✔️ This film was invited to the 2016 Cannes Film Festival competition section. ✔️ With this movie, Taeri won eight rookie awards in Korea.
연재 배
2025-02-17 19:19:36 +0000 UTCWhat's funny is that Taeri once said this movie is a family movie in an interview. And there is an episode where Taeri's grandmother brought her friends to watch it in a group because it was Taeri's debut movie. 😂 It was a difficult movie for me to watch even as a big fan of Taeri, but thank you for watching and reacting to it! For Taeri’s next movie, I recommend ‘Little Forest’, which features Jung-hwan from Reply 1988!!
연재 배
2025-02-17 18:55:20 +0000 UTC💯
Big Body & Bok
2025-02-17 18:52:25 +0000 UTCa combination of uncomfortable/bold scenes and pure artwork lol
Lenajah Madison
2025-02-17 18:13:35 +0000 UTCoh wow didnt expect to see this reaction lol idk why i am surprised though cause handmaiden was pretty popular even after the affair scandal simply because it is so iconic
Lenajah Madison
2025-02-17 17:31:05 +0000 UTCOmg didn't expect that hahha
Yoona
2025-02-17 16:59:21 +0000 UTCbtw it was famous in Korea when it came out I mean it's really surprising this was a hit movie in SK considering it's basically a gay movie
sara
2025-02-17 15:46:22 +0000 UTCWow this is a surprise !! Also three actors from your last movie Assassination.
sara
2025-02-17 15:26:26 +0000 UTC
