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The Housemaid

Play trailer Poster for The Housemaid 1960 1h 30m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Piano composer Dong-sik (Eun-shim Lee) and his pregnant wife (Jeung-nyeo Ju) need extra help around the house, so they hire a housemaid (Kim Jin-kyu), whose precociousness soon gives way to troubling behavior. Tensions between her and Dong-sik lead to an affair, and while the pregnancy ends in a miscarriage, it also results in the maid becoming obsessed with killing the entire family, starting with their older son. Soon their comfortable home becomes a physical and psychological battleground.
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The Housemaid

Critics Reviews

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Dustin Chang Floating World 08/27/2023
It's not lust she's after. She just wants what others have, because that's what a consumerist capitalist is supposed to do. Go to Full Review Michael J. Casey Boulder Weekly 08/06/2020
4/5
Claustrophobic and relentless, 'The Housemaid' is the perfect intersection of noir and horror, and one of South Korea's greatest films. Go to Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand 01/18/2017
... a wildly melodramatic story of middle class ambition set almost entirely in a two-story home that becomes something of a prison as the web of desire and anxiety and loathing and social standing closes in on them. Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 07/18/2014
B
The strange film has reached cult classic status, as it lays out a nightmarish scenario over its soap opera story. Go to Full Review Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid 01/28/2011
[This] story is perfectly captured in a poetic, demonic way by the camera. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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-McNulty - May 11 Compelling, almost like a horror without the supernatural. Very engaging camera movement and action. See more Lon W @LONWOLF1968 Apr 26 OKAY I HAD NEVER HEARD OF THIS FILM. THE ' CITIZEN KANE OF SOUTH KOREA '. BUT PHILLY HAD ONE SHOWING AND I THOUGHT IT'D BE COOL. LOVE THE ERA AND YEAR I WAS BORN 1960. PLUS BLACK AND WHITE......SO HERE I AM IN A PRETTY PACKED THEATER AND I AM LAUGHING OUT LOUD LIKE A LITTLE GIRL AT A HANNAH MONTANA CONCERT!! NOBODY ELSE WAS LAUGHING AND I THOUGHT I MIGHT GET BEATEN....BUT THE END!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!! NO SPOILER. See more Vitor O Mar 19 An incredibly tense South Korean thriller that easily holds up to this day. See more Madam D Mar 15 Very odd, intense film made during a time in South Korea that was very conservative. By modern standards the plot is overly dramatic, but with cultural & financial overtones that made sense at the time. Ending turns it into a moral play. See more Andy F 09/22/2024 An excellent groundbreaking film. This is what filmmaking is all about. Disturbing yet charming and totally unique. See more JJJJJJ J 07/04/2023 Moderately entertaining film that says at least something about the society that birthed it. The basic plot of this film is somewhat weird in which you have a women using the fact that she is a mans mistress to control him, going against most western stereotypes in which the man is always the controller. It is definitely different and I do not know how much I agree with it. It also seems to paint the adult women in a bad light but seems to have less criticism for the male it is just weird. Definitely not modern feminist approved. I don't know. I don't think its a bad movie. It creates a compelling plot, that some might not like but makes us ask important questions. See more Read all reviews
The Housemaid

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Cast & Crew

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Kim Ki-young

Director

Kim Jin-kyu

Kim Dongsik

Eun-shim Lee

Maid

Jeung-nyeo Ju

Dongsik's Wife

Ahn Sung-ki

Dongsik's Son

Eom Aeng-ran

Jo Kyunghee

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The Housemaid

The Housemaid (1960) The Housemaid (1960) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Piano composer Dong-sik (Eun-shim Lee) and his pregnant wife (Jeung-nyeo Ju) need extra help around the house, so they hire a housemaid (Kim Jin-kyu), whose precociousness soon gives way to troubling behavior. Tensions between her and Dong-sik lead to an affair, and while the pregnancy ends in a miscarriage, it also results in the maid becoming obsessed with killing the entire family, starting with their older son. Soon their comfortable home becomes a physical and psychological battleground.
Director
Kim Ki-young
Screenwriter
Kim Ki-young
Production Co
Hanguk Munye Yeonghwa, Kim Ki-Young Production
Genre
Horror
Original Language
Korean
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 17, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$148.5K
Runtime
1h 30m
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