The Servant is a psychological thriller set in 1950s New York “about Tony (Hoult), an entitled British man who moves into a beautiful apartment on Central Park and becomes embroiled in a wicked power play with his manservant, Barrett (Domingo).”
The project is a reimagining of the subversive 1963 Joseph Losey classic with a screenplay by Harold Pinter. That film crackled with undertones of class, sexuality and politics, with Dirk Bogarde playing the sociopathic manservant to acclaim. Bong Joon-Ho has cited the movie as a key inspiration for his Oscar winner Parasite. Lee’s update of the story is understood to crackle with its own sexual cat-and-mouse games and modern dynamics.
