Kate Nhung in Derek Nguyen's The Housemaid (Image © IFC MIdnight)
THE HOUSEMAID: B+
It’s a miracle how effective The Housemaid remains after being at the mercy of Vietnam’s film censorship board. Set on a 1953 Indochina rubber plantation, a young woman named Linh is hired as a housemaid but falls in love with the owner, Captain Laurent, whose dead wife haunts the plantation. Some writing and pacing issues thankfully don’t detract from its strong acting, set design, and chilly atmosphere. Currently, director Derek Nguyen is arranging a remake set in America’s Reconstruction-Era Deep South, which will potentially feature an entire African-American cast and crew. Now that is a remake I want to see.
Sean Woodard
The Housemaid
Starring Kate Nhung and Jean-Michel Richaud
Written & Directed by Derek Nguyen
In Theaters Now