This Vietnamese film, known as The Housemaid in English, is not to be confused with the Korean films of the same name. The plot''s catalyst of a beautiful woman who goes to work as a housemaid at a wealthy estate and winds up falling into an affair with the master of that estate is similar, but that is pretty much where the similarities end. The Housemaid is set at a French plantation in Vietnam in the 1950s, and this movie is straight up Gothic horror. The supernatural element is introduced very early and utilized with all of the whispering, mirror glimpsing, spooky forest, water where it shouldn't be, creepy laughter, slamming doors, flying furniture, babies crying when there ain't no babies tropes that one would expect from Gothic horror. All is not as it appears to be with this either, except... some of it still is. The script withholds information until the end in order to keep a major plot element a secret, but I think most viewers will begin to suspect, because some of the ghost's actions don't make sense for the actual ghost to have done... and some of them do, even when you find out that there was another element that was supposed to have been at play. There is a deep well of sadness at the heart of this film's plot, as this fits into the very broad category of a tragedy plot. Order is restored in a way that brings catharsis, which is what a tragedy plot is supposed to do. This is definitely worth a watch if you don't mind frequent subtitles.
Review of The Housemaid
