“I know you don’t even think of me as human”

Eun Yi (Jeon Do Yeon) is a kind soul. Looking for better employment, she ends up filling the position as a housemaid of a rich and powerful family. Their humongous mansion takes some getting used to. She has the more experienced maid Byeong Sik (Youn Yuh Jung) to guide her. She has a colder and distant but strictly professional approach to work, allowing no room for errors in keeping the perfect home. The master of the house, Hoon (Lee Jung Jae), is obviously successful at what he does, to be able to afford everything shiny and sparkly we see on the screen. His wife Hae Ra (Seo Woo) is currently heavily pregnant with twins. She spends her days getting pampered, exercising and preparing for the upcoming birth.

The housemaid’s role is a varied one. Cooking, cleaning, delivering, washing, looking after the boss’ young daughter Na Mi (Ahn Seo Hyun), and also as it turns out, be on the receiving end of Hoon’s sexual advances. It never turns into a non-consensual situation, but the wealth and power gap is an obvious one.

It only starts to get more complicated from here. The affair does not and cannot stay hidden for long, as even in the vast mansion there does not appear to be a lot of room for secrets. With Hae Ra’s mother (Park Ji Young) entering the picture there are uglier and more dangerous turns.

What is immediately striking about Im Sang Soo’s “The Housemaid” is the stunning production design that sets the stage for all the dramatics to come. The grand remote luxurious residence is flawlessly designed and lighted, looking like it came straight out of a catalogue for dream houses. Despite the perfect exterior and the appearances everyone tries to upkeep, it becomes clear that what hides underneath could not be further from the clean-cut glitz and glamour we are initially introduced to.

Throughout, the film wants to highlight the class divide between its characters: from the costumes, the set decorations, to the words in the script, there are subtle and other not so subtle ways in which Eun Yi and Byeong Sik are put down and separated from the family members, who speak and act as though they are the higher and mightier beings. Everything quite literally being served on a silver platter is the norm, and the situation becomes more and more tense as built-up resentment starts bubbling up.

The performances are uniformly excellent. Cannes Best Actress winner Jeon Do Yeon lives up to the reputation. She is used and abused until reaching a breaking point. Jeon keeps her performance quiet and restrained, never getting carried away to bordering on scene chewing territory. Seo Woo and Park Ji Young are the perfect spoiled, selfish, and entitled mother-daughter team who have their eyes on money and status, with Lee Jung Jae as the sole male figure providing a dominating presence that sets off the film’s chain reaction. A special mention however to Youn Yuh Jung, in a pivotal, perhaps most interesting role of the cast: she first appears as the silent and stoic type, but years of service to the family clearly have had a toll on her, and her wavering loyalty begins to show with every disapproving glance and the occasional eye-rolls. It is a scene-stealing supporting role that is masterfully played.

The dramatic finale will no doubt split viewers. It does creep up out of the blue, and may not make the most logical sense, but the level of madness it displays is shocking to say the least. Even though the final few minutes may not be to everyone’s liking, the rest is so expertly crafted that it would be easy to forgive.