Is This Allowed? | Why “The Handmaiden” Rewrites Sapphic Sex on Screen

biThe Handmaiden has two of the most iconic sapphic sex scenes in modern cinema. Two intimacy coordinators break down why they still feel transgressive.

Full description:

This episode is a love letter to immaculate choreography, devastating eye contact, and enough sapphic tension to power a small city.

Ariel and Morgan dive into the two iconic intimacy scenes from Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden — scenes so explicit, so intentional, and so beautifully constructed that they still feel radical nearly a decade later.

In this episode:

• How the film uses restraint, pacing, and POV to build erotic tension
• Why a simple hand-grip deserves its own IMDb credit
• How sapphic sex is framed as joy, discovery, and mutual power, not performance
• Why this might be one of the best examples of the female gaze in modern cinema

A masterclass in storytelling through intimacy

We also unpack the behind-the-scenes approach to filming the intimacy, the deliberate removal of the male gaze, and why The Handmaiden remains a gold standard for what intimate storytelling can look like when trust and intention lead the way.

It's sexy, funny, deeply thoughtful, and a reminder that sometimes the most radical thing a movie can do is let women actually enjoy each other.

Watch along timestamps:

• First scene: 41:47 – 46:56
• Second scene: 1:39:53 – 1:44:00

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Credits

The Handmaiden (2016) | Director: Park Chan-wook | Moho Film / Yong Film

Hashtags

#TheHandmaiden #ParkChanwook #SapphicCinema #FemaleGaze #FilmBreakdown