Park Chan-wook’s most famous movie is probably Oldboy, but his real magnum opus is a completely different kind of film. Park is one of the most prominent directors to come out of South Korea, along with Parasite director Bong Joon-ho, and cinephiles all over the world have come to admire his unique style.

Park Chan-wook’s best movies offer a mix of different genres. Oldboy is a hard-hitting revenge thriller, but this doesn’t mean that Park sticks to action movies. In fact, his very best work is a period romance that has a different aesthetic style from Oldboy, although it’s just as exciting and unpredictable in its own way.

The Handmaiden Is Park Chan-wook’s Masterpiece

The 2016 Romance Is Exciting And Thought-Provoking In Equal Measure

Although Oldboy is more popular, The Handmaiden is Park Chan-wook’s true masterpiece. The story unfolds in Korea in the 1930s, during the period of Japanese rule, where a Korean woman is hired as a handmaiden for a Japanese heiress living a secluded lifestyle. The handmaiden’s true intentions are hidden, but she plans to con the heiress out of her fortune.

As Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri) continues her plan with the devious Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo), she starts to develop feelings for the heiress Izumi Hideko (Kim Min-hee). This is where The Handmaiden develops into a sumptuous period romance of hidden desires and stolen glances.

The Handmaiden is achingly beautiful, both in its aesthetic style and the specifics of its romance. Park makes great use of the film’s gorgeous costumes and locations, ensuring that it appeals to fans of period dramas even though it subverts almost every one of the genre’s most popular conventions.

The beauty of The Handmaiden becomes a weapon as Park peels back more layers to reveal the grotesque heart beating at the center of the drama. The non-linear narrative is perfectly measured to deliver maximum shock value as the idyllic setting is revealed to be nothing more than a pristine facade concealing an abusive nightmare.

The Twist In The Handmaiden Is Better Than Oldboy’s Famous Twist

The Handmaiden Gets The Most Out Of Its Big Twists

Oldboy‘s iconic twist is part of what makes it so hard to forget, since it immediately casts the story in a new light. The same can be said of the big reveal in The Handmaiden, but the difference is that Park places this in the middle of the film, so he has plenty of time to deal with the fallout.

Without giving too much away, it should be said that The Handmaiden‘s twist is artfully executed. Park reveals the full extent of the truth in two parts, which mark the turning points at the end of the first two “parts” of the movie. The Part One twist is immediately jaw-dropping, but the Part Two twist makes it better in retrospect.

In a twisty game of shifting allegiances and hidden truths, the characters in The Handmaiden get a lot of their power from how much of themselves they reveal to others. Ultimately, Hideko and Sook-hee need to learn to live for themselves, refusing to play by Count Fujiwara’s rules.

The Handmaiden‘s intelligent twist ties to the film’s feminist themes. Hideko and Sook-hee are routinely abused by men in a variety of ways until the full truth comes out. As soon as Count Fujiwara and Uncle Kouzuki lose their ability to control what the women know, they lose their ability to control them.

How The Handmaiden & Oldboy Compare To Each Other

Park’s Two Best Movies Are Different Kinds Of Revenge Thrillers

On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much that connects Oldboy and The Handmaiden, since the former is a modern-day action thriller and the latter is a period romance. However, both movies are filled with twists and turns, and they share a lot of common DNA as unpredictable thrillers, albeit ones with different approaches.

Oldboy and The Handmaiden also share common themes of captivity and release. Hideko’s wish to escape from her abusive uncle by any means necessary, even death, echoes Oh Dae-su’s quest for revenge in Oldboy. Both main characters are traumatized by their captors in different ways, and they both learn the nuances of freedom.

Whether someone prefers Oldboy or The Handmaiden will likely come down to their specific tastes in movies. Those looking for more action will likely side with Oldboy, but The Handmaiden might appeal more to those who want to watch a twisted, shocking psychological thriller.

Decision To Leave Also Has A Case For Park Chan-wook’s Best Work

The 2022 Mystery Further Highlights Park’s Status As A Master Of Twists

While Oldboy and The Handmaiden are probably the top two contenders for the тιтle of Park’s best movie, his 2022 detective thriller Decision to Leave shouldn’t be ignored either. It’s another example of how Park can construct labyrinthine stories with shocking twists that pack a punch.

Decision to Leave starts out as a neo-noir detective thriller, but like The Handmaiden, it develops into something more unique and unpredictable. The strange, hypnotic romance redefines the femme fatale trope for a new era, leading to a finale that certainly ranks as one of Park’s most profoundly moving.

With Oldboy, The Handmaiden and Decision to Leave, Park has proven that he can apply his distinct style to a variety of film genres, making them each bend to his will. While he now has fans all over the world waiting for whatever comes next, The Handmaiden remains his most refined work yet, and always worth rewatching.