68
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80MovielineStephanie ZacharekMovielineStephanie ZacharekThis is a household in which the rules are very formal, and they're matched by the formality of the filmmaking.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThe class warfare in The Housemade feels dated, but there's something nicely kinky in this lusciously photographed erotic Korean thriller by Im Sang-soo.
- The outcome is a flamingly sexy soap opera whose satire on high society is sometimes as savage as Claude Chabrol's "La ceremonie."
- 70The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottAn admiring, clever remake of Kim Ki-young's legendary film of the same title from 1960, this version, directed by Im Sang-soo, is at once more explicit than the original and less kinky.
- 67The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThough impeccably photographed and acted, The Housemaid begins to feel stifling and airless once Im's thesis about the abuses of the powerful starts to drive the film to a foregone conclusion.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichThe major change is that the domestic, Eun-yi (the great Jeon, star of "Secret Sunshine"), is now more of a victim than an aggressor.
- 60New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanKorean director Im Sang-soo can't improve on Kim Ki-young's 1960 original, a jarring and operatic cult favorite. Still, he does tweak the themes in intriguing fashion.
- With high production values and a glossily enjoyable mise-en-scene, the film is watchable.
- 50VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangThis high-end softcore thriller is juicily watchable from start to over-the-top finish, but its gleeful skewering of the upper classes comes off as curiously passe, a luxe exercise in one-note nastiness.
- 50Village VoiceNicolas RapoldVillage VoiceNicolas RapoldDespite eccentric touches, like a handheld street-shot overture and Grand Guignol Omen references, there's little difference between this story and soap-opera intrigue.