The Handmaiden (2016) First Time Watching! Full Movie Reaction!!
Added 2026-01-22 06:31:25 +0000 UTC
Comments
And they were roommates! 😂 That was a journey and a half. It was a little hard to follow in the opening, lots of names and things being thrown around. Like you said, the build up of previous events over part 1 & 2 was so good and the two lead’s chemistry was palpable.
Dylan
2026-01-23 01:58:09 +0000 UTCI saw Park Chan Wook speak after a screening of Decision to Leave in 2023 followed by screening of Vertigo(which he introduced). And the screening was free to the public(not part of a guild screening or something). Great night(and late night - he gave long answers, didn't seem to mind staying there for a while - not common for most Q&As) And both movies were projected on film!
Birdie Num Num
2026-01-22 20:54:00 +0000 UTCPark Chan Wook snubbed by the Oscars again today. So odd that one of the world's greatest directors has never gotten an Oscar nom(but has won 3 awards at Cannes).
Birdie Num Num
2026-01-22 20:48:12 +0000 UTCJust to back up one of the below comments, here's a general content guide on the rest of Park Chan-Wook's filmography as director, in case you wanna prepare for how intense any of these movies or shows is going to be. Ironically, almost none of his other movies have any significant sexual content that I can recall -- I feel like Oldboy is easily second-most, and as you probably remember, that's like a tenth as intense as this film. I left out any shorts, since you guys don't react to them. Daleun... haega kkuneun kkum (1992) and Saminjo (1997) -- no idea. Don't believe these have ever been released on physical or digital media in the United States with English subtitles. J.S.A. Joint Security Area (2000) -- his first major movie, and (to my memory) not particularly violent or extreme at all, but rather a drama about two people in a unique situation. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) -- the beginning of the thematic "vengeance" trilogy. To my memory, a standard amount of violence for an R-rated movie, but also one of the most bleak and harrowing films I've ever seen, so...prepare for that! Yeoseot gae ui siseon (2003) -- an anthology in which he contributed 1 of 6 shorts. Another one I don't think has been made available to English-language audiences. The second chapter in the 'vengeance" trilogy is Oldboy, which you've already seen. Lady Vengeance (2005) -- very bloody and violent conclusion to the "vengeance" trilogy, and also harrowing, although less so than Mr. Vengeance. Closer to The Raid than Oldboy in terms of splatter levels, although I would still say less violent than The Raid. I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006) -- a quirky comedy movie that is unlike most of his other movies. Not violent or graphic at all as far as I can recall (but also not nearly as popular as his other films). Thirst (2009) -- a full-on horror movie. As far as I can remember, pretty standard violence for an R-rated movie. Stoker (2013) -- his first English-language film. Less violent than Thirst, so honestly on the tame-ish side. Go-jin-gam-rae (2014) -- a documentary that again, AFAIK, has not been translated for American audiences (and as it about Korean life, it may not hold that much international appeal). "The Little Drummer Girl" (2018) -- underrated, extremely well-made adaptation of a famous John le Carre book with an all-star cast of English speaking actors. As this was a television show, violence is not that graphic. Note that there is a director's cut of this as well. Wish more people had seen it. Decision to Leave (2022) -- incredible, twisty thriller. Again, run of the mill in terms of graphic content. "The Sympathizer" (2024) -- HBO TV show featuring Hoa Xuande and Robert Downey Jr., based on a novel, similar to "Little Drummer Girl." Unlike "LDG," he only directed half of the episodes. Haven't seen it yet, but heard it was good. No Other Choice (2025) -- haven't been able to see this yet either, but it sounds like this is probably going to be similar to Decision to Leave, content-wise.
Tyler Foster
2026-01-22 18:09:11 +0000 UTCMemories of Murder is one the finest movies I've ever seen. Would be a great film for the channel.
Marcus Cato
2026-01-22 15:04:43 +0000 UTCI think the last one was Run Lola Run?
Florian Meier
2026-01-22 13:30:43 +0000 UTCHa! I spent so much energy being happy someone was finally going to react to The Handmaiden that I didn't even pause to consider how weird it must feel to watch The Handmaiden in front of a camera. Awkward (!), but I'm glad you two liked it.
Paul Cox
2026-01-22 13:29:25 +0000 UTCReading the wikipedia page for the novel this film was based on - it seems like the novel was incredibly sexual(which it was praised for), so the onscreen portrayal of the sex scenes were likely an attempt to be faithful to the source material(and the author is gay - so toning that element down may have been even more controversial. I remember many in the community being upset by Spielberg's very toned down adaptation of The Color Purple) Also, I hope you do decide to go ahead with the foreign language film poll, its ok to have more than one foreign film per year on the channel:)
Birdie Num Num
2026-01-22 08:38:55 +0000 UTCGreat reaction! I hope you guys continue watching movies from this director; he has some other amazing movies! I swear the rest aren't as restricted as OldBoy and this.
Andrew
2026-01-22 06:54:33 +0000 UTCIt's going to be a long day tomorrow waiting to watch this after work, but in the meantime I don't want to miss this opportunity to mention, again: the next two films by this director, Park Chan-Wook, Decision to Leave (2022), which I think you guys would flip for, and his newest movie, No Other Choice (2025), which seems like it has some Parasite vibes, which I know you love (as well as an earlier film of his, Joint Security Area from 2000, which ties in with No Other Choice in that they have the same lead actor) and Parasite director Bong Joon Ho's film Memories of Murder (2003), another movie I strongly suspect could become an all-time favorite!
Tyler Foster
2026-01-22 06:49:08 +0000 UTC
