Sook-hee, a pickpocket from the slums of Gyeongseong (Seoul), is summoned by "Count" Fujiwara, a dapper swindler of ambiguous origin. His plan: place her as handmaiden to the reclusive Japanese heiress, Lady Hideko. Sook-hee will coax Hideko into falling for the Count; he'll seduce and marry her, then commit her to an asylum, splitting the fortune. Sook-hee agrees—she's never failed a con.
One week before the elopement, Sook-hee discovers Hideko’s diary. It isn’t naive—it’s a ledger. Hideko has been playing the Count and Sook-hee against each other. She knows the asylum plot. Worse: she has her own plan. She intends to drug both, steal the Count’s papers, and escape to Shanghai as a man.
But Hideko rises. She had already replaced the poison with a sleeping draft. The Count’s knife is grabbed by Sook-hee. In the chaos, Hideko sets fire to the library. The uncle dies clutching his books. The Count flees into the forest.
Sook-hee, a pickpocket from the slums of Gyeongseong (Seoul), is summoned by "Count" Fujiwara, a dapper swindler of ambiguous origin. His plan: place her as handmaiden to the reclusive Japanese heiress, Lady Hideko. Sook-hee will coax Hideko into falling for the Count; he'll seduce and marry her, then commit her to an asylum, splitting the fortune. Sook-hee agrees—she's never failed a con.
One week before the elopement, Sook-hee discovers Hideko’s diary. It isn’t naive—it’s a ledger. Hideko has been playing the Count and Sook-hee against each other. She knows the asylum plot. Worse: she has her own plan. She intends to drug both, steal the Count’s papers, and escape to Shanghai as a man. the handmaiden extended
But Hideko rises. She had already replaced the poison with a sleeping draft. The Count’s knife is grabbed by Sook-hee. In the chaos, Hideko sets fire to the library. The uncle dies clutching his books. The Count flees into the forest. Sook-hee, a pickpocket from the slums of Gyeongseong