It’s hard to be a second grade citizen.
A not-so-bright woman starts working as a nanny for a rich family. The man of the house, who likes his fine wine, is a man who is used to getting what he wants, and he wants the new nanny. His wife is expecting twins, but he doesn’t care because he is the fine wine man, and he knocks up the nanny too. But then the wife and her evil mother discover that the nanny is pregnant with the fine wine man’s child, and they will do anything to get rid of the unborn child! The stupid nanny is in grave danger!
“The Housemaid” is a remake of a movie from 1960 that I have never watched. The remake stars two excellent actors. The nanny is played by my favorite South Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon. The fine wine man is played by Lee Jung-jae. These two are the highlight of the movie together with the cute little girl who looks like a walking football.
The problem with the movie is that the mother and wife are cartoon villains. They belong in a Cinderella movie. They will walk over corpses to get rid of the unborn child that the nanny is carrying, and what they do is so ridiculous that I couldn’t take the movie seriously. Their evil schemes belong in a cartoon, not in a movie like this. Sometimes, characters can be too evil, which is the case with these two characters.
The best South Korean directors are masters at mixing dark drama and black comedy, and it feels like there is a touch of black comedy here. But the characters are so one-dimensional except for the sexy, fine old woman, who looks like a man. She has some layers as a character, but the rest of the characters are one-dimensional.
The protagonist is a simple woman who isn’t very bright. She is a little slow in the head, and she lives in a fantasy world, it seems. So even though the things that happen to her are disgusting, she isn’t perfect. But her body is mighty fine, and so is the fine wine man’s body, even though I’m not into that.
I liked the ending though, especially when the protagonist has a crazy plan. The scene with her and the way her arch ends is cool and mighty fine, and if Dario Argento had watched the movie, I get the feeling he would have given this scene a thumbs up!
Come to think of it, “Parasite” can remind me of “The Housemaid.” I have made a movie commentary of “The Housemaid,” and while I was watching it, there was something familiar with the story and the characters. And then it occurred to me while writing this review. “Parasite” has copied a lot from “The Housemaid,” but “Parasite” is a much better movie about rich people who step on the little people.
This is a cold movie with unsympathetic characters, and the protagonist, who is supposed to be the angel, is a cheap woman who has no direction in life. Just watch “Parasite” instead of “The Housemaid.”