In the 1960s, south Korea's economy developed rapidly, class ideology became more and more serious, and many rural women poured into the cities, and in the face of the few job opportunities, they had to choose to become "lower daughters".
In the face of the powerful aristocracy, weak women often became the private property of men, on the other hand, countless women also wanted to use this relationship to please men and change their destiny.
"The Next Girl"
Eun Hee is an ordinary fast food restaurant waiter whose daily job is to wash dishes and clean up.
She lives with friends in a small rental house, shares an electric bike, and lives like an ant at the bottom of society.
One day, Mama Zhao, a noble butler, came to him through her resume.
After fully understanding Eun Hee's living conditions, she decides to hire Eun Hee to work as a maid in a wealthy family.
Although the job is not decent, it is not easy for Eun Hee, who only has a certificate in early childhood education.
In the mansion, the young and beautiful hostess Yuzhu is pregnant with six months of twins, and the eldest daughter Nami has gone to school, so Eun-hee's daily job is to clean the house and take care of Nami who returns from school.
Mother Cho asks Eun Hee to put on the servant's clothes and tells her that this is no different from the outside, everything must be done according to the rules, so it cannot be careless.
When it was almost dark, the man of the family, Gao Xun, came back from outside, he was very handsome, just chatted with Eun Hee, and then went upstairs.
The extravagance of the rich is unimaginable to ordinary people, who eat mountain and sea delicacies, drink expensive red wine, and even the breakfast is carefully matched and rear-ended.
Eun Hee takes good care of the daily life of the host's family, and soon, the docile Eun Hee integrates into the wealthy family, she gradually looks forward to her noble wife life, and at the same time, Gao Xun also likes this pure woman.
On weekdays, Gao Xun only likes two things: playing the piano and tasting red wine.
Pour a bottle of expensive red wine into a glass, first look at the color of the wine, then shake it, pick it up and smell it, then send it to your mouth, let the taste of red wine fill the whole mouth, take a sip, and finally swallow it into your stomach...
He then opens the bathroom door with glass and sees Eun-hee cleaning the bathtub.
The man sees Eun Hee like a wolf seeing a sheep, seemingly silent, and his mind is already turbulent.
Pregnant Yu-joo can't do strenuous exercise, Gao Xun stays alone in the empty room every night, and finally, he can't stand the loneliness in his heart and walks into Eun-hee's room.
He handed Eun Hee a glass of wine and told her to finish it in one gulp, a glass of wine to her stomach, and the drunkenness gradually came, and then the two naturally entered the subject.
The next day, Eun-hee serves the family as usual, the only difference being the long-lost smile on her face.
For a servant, it is a fortunate thing to be able to get the favor of his master.
At night, Eun-hee, who had been busy for a busy day, was very tired, but she went into Nami's room, asked her why she didn't sleep, and then lay down next to Nami and whispered the story until Nami fell asleep.
In the days that followed, Ko-hoon often came to Eun-hee's room in the middle of the night.
They all said that there was no impermeable wall in the world, and Mama Zhao knew what was happening between them, but she did not show her face, but secretly reported the situation to Yuzhu's mother, according to her observation, Eun Hee was probably pregnant.
Yuzhu's mother is a powerful character, her daughter married into the rich through various means, and now that her daughter's position is in jeopardy, she will certainly not give up.
On the pretext of visiting her daughter, Yuzhu's mother came home and happened to meet Eun Hee who was wiping the chandelier, so she deliberately fell down, kicked over the ladder, and made her fall down the stairs, in order to make Eun Hee abort.
All this was seen by Nami, after which Mother Zhao took Eun Hee to the hospital for a full body examination, fortunately there was a slight concussion and skin trauma, and the child was not in serious trouble.
Yuzhu's mother's plot did not succeed, and she felt very uncomfortable, but she still asked Mother Zhao to send a flower basket and some money to Eun Hee.
The simple Eun Hee is not yet aware of the problem, naively thinking that it was just an accident.
At the mansion, the mother and daughter are planning how to get Eun Hee out of the house, who has a child in her belly. Yuzhu's mother learns from the doctor's phone that Eun-hee is indeed pregnant, most likely Ko-hoon's child.
Her mother told Yuzhu that this person should not stay for a long time and must be uprooted immediately.
A few days later, Eun Hee returned to the mansion, although the injury was healed, she still had to drink Chinese medicine to condition her body, and in the face of The false concern of Yuzhu's mother, Eun Hee could only accept it silently.
In the dead of night, everyone was asleep, Andi-joo went upstairs with her golf club, and she came to Eun-hee's side, lifted the club, and was ready to move.
Suddenly, the child in her stomach kicked her, she touched her stomach, remembering her two children, and finally, she couldn't bear to do it.
The next day, Yu-joo calls Eun-hee to her room, looks at her with a look of deep hatred, and suddenly raises her hand to give Eun-hee a slap.
Eun Hee stands up and asks her why she hit herself, and Eun Joo slaps her again, and Eun Hee realizes that she can't hide the fact that she's pregnant.
Yuzhu's mother handed her a check and told her to go to the hospital for an abortion in the next few days, and then roll out with the rest of the money.
If she doesn't do this, the consequences will be severe, and under the pressure of power, Eun-hee can only temporarily obey.
Nami saw what happened today, at night, she stood at Eun Hee's door and refused to leave, Eun Hee asked her why she didn't sleep, Nami said softly, you usually tell me stories, today I tell you stories.
Eun Hee smiled with relief, the hearts of the people in this mansion were cold and cold, but at this moment, an indescribable warmth flowed into her heart, as if all the grievances had no meaning of existence, and she decided to keep the child in secret.
In order to get rid of the child, Yuzhu went to the pharmacy to buy some abortion pills and put them in Eun Hee's refrigerator, although these drugs will not cause death, but if taken for a long time, it will still cause great harm to the body.
After a while, Yuzhu's due date arrived, and her family helped her pack her bags and move to the hospital.
The huge mansion is left with two people, Mama Zhao and Eun Hee. Eun Hee came over to Mama Cho and said that she wanted to give birth to this child, not for anything else, but simply wanted a child.
Mama Zhao sighed and did not refute her, but she also knew that Yuzhu would not let go.
Later, Yuzhu gave birth to twins in the hospital, and Gao Xun hurried home after taking care of his wife.
At this time, Eun Hee is lying on the bed, her abdominal pain is unbearable, after being taken to the hospital, she faints, and Yu-joo's mother buys the doctor and forcibly asks him to give Eun Hee an abortion.
The child was gone, and Mama Zhao couldn't bear it, so she told Eun Hee everything and apologized to her, because Mama Zhao was also forced.
Over the years, Yuzhu's mother has been looking for various reasons to threaten her, and she can only obey. When Eun-hee knew this, her eyes were full of hatred and she had wanted to take the child away and fly away, but it was now too late.
A few days later, Eun Hee went to the mansion with the help of Mother Cho, she went into the bedroom and picked up the child, when Gao Xun heard the voice, he looked at Eun Hee in surprise and asked her what she wanted to do, Eun Hee didn't speak, she just wanted to hold the child.
The family sat in the hall, and Yuzhu first asked Mama Zhao, "Why did you put Eun Hee in?" ”？ Mama Zhao was fed up with the ugliness and hypocrisy of the family, and she quit her job as a housekeeper and left without looking back.
Eun Hee came out of the stairs, greeted them strangely, looked at the frightened family downstairs, and smiled contentedly.
Nami asks her how she's been lately, Eun-hee says it's okay, that is, the child is gone, and Yuzhu's mother quickly covers Nami's mouth, afraid that she will say the wrong thing.
Ko-hoon doesn't want to make a big deal out of it, so he offers to solve the problem with money, as much as he wants, just hoping to calm Eun-hee's anger, but Eun-hee looks at him contemptuously.
Mother Zhao turned back and advised Eun Hee to leave here early and not to pester them anymore, eun Hee said with tears, my child was killed by them, and today there must be an understanding.
Eun-hee tied a rope to the chandelier, stepped on a chair, jumped down the stairs, hanged himself directly in front of them, and then lit the gasoline. In an instant, the light of the fire illuminated the entire hall, and the cries of pain echoed in every corner of the room for a long time.
Nami looked at the raging fire with no expression on her face.
A year later, the family invited a new housekeeper and daughter-in-law, who returned to their former lives.
It was Nami's birthday, Gao Xun gave her daughter a famous painting, Yuzhu sang a birthday song to celebrate her birthday, everything was so happy and calm.
Nami walks to the camera with a cup, and she vaguely remembers that today is also Eun-hee's death day.
The movie "Next Daughter" takes Eun Hee's pregnancy as the fuse, showing everyone in the mansion to the fullest, and unexpectedly, as the lower daughter of the nobleman, Eun Hee does not want to rely on children to ascend to the throne, but simply wants a child as a companion under Nami's influence.
However, this idea was resented by the hostess, and in order to maintain the family's position, Yuzhu snatched the child from Eun-hee's womb with absolute strength, which eventually led to tragedy.
In short, the film wants to show the conflict and contradiction between the poor class and the rich class. The story of this maid is more of a symbol and metaphor than a simple advocacy or glorification of a little three involved in the family.
As a representative of the lower class, in the face of the demands of the rich class male protagonists, it is more obedient and passive acceptance, because the choices left to them are not much, and their hard-won job opportunities may be lost because of this refusal.
Eun Hee's death may be extreme, but it represents the unassuming cry of all the "girls" who live at the bottom and even roll in the abyss.