A nanny finds child care isn't the half of her duties

Think of The Housemaid, Im Sang-soo's elegant and kinky remake of Kim Ki-young's 1960 cult film, as The Nanny Diaries, South Korean-style.

When Eun-yi (Jeon Do-yeon), an unassuming young divorcee who has studied child development, is hired to tend the spawn of a filthy-rich family, she quickly learns that her employers are accustomed to having their way or buying their way, morals be damned.

After an interview with Mrs. Cho (Youn Yuh-jung), the household's imperious senior servant, Bambi-eyed Eun-yi leaves her job at a noodle shop for the estate of Hoon (Lee Jung-jae).

The house is a modernist villa with hard edges and expensive cladding, just like its inhabitants. Hoon's wife, Hae-ra (Seo Woo), pregnant with twins, is happy to unload Nami (Seo-Hyeon Ahn), her watchful 6-year-old, on Eun-yi, who takes on other duties, including washing Hae-ra's underwear and scouring the bathtub.

A modern-day Mr. Rochester, Hoon is a broodingly handsome businessman who unwinds at home by playing classical piano, sipping red wine, and conspicuously exercising what the French would call his lordly rights. When because of her advanced pregnancy his wife cannot satisfy him sexually, Hoon forces himself on Eun-yi, who, like all the women of the manor, enables him. She mistakes animal need for affection.

By turns predictable as a melodrama and surprising as a thriller, The Housemaid holds the moviegoer in thrall with its lush cinematography and its remorseless characters. More shocking than Hoon's rape of Eun-yi is the jockeying among Mrs. Cho, Hae-ra, and Hae-ra's mother (Park Ji-young) to further exploit and to humiliate her. In their scheming, these powerless women feel their power.

While the film grows increasingly preposterous in its final act, the enigmatic performances of Youn and Jeon carry the day.