Hong Chang-pyo’s colourful Joseon-era romantic court intrigue is the second in a loose projected trilogy from Jupiter Films concerned with Korea’s traditions of fortune-telling, following Han Jae-rim’s The Face Reader (2013). In 1753, a time of drought, the King is advised to restore celestial balance by marrying off his daughter, Princess Songhwa (Shim Eun-kyung). The independent-minded Songhwa is herself desperate to escape the confines of the royal palace for an advance peek at her would-be suitors – but she finds her perfect match in a wise, honourable astrologist (Lee Seung-gi) tasked with testing her compatibility with the four candidates. Full of imposture and masquerade, The Princess and the Matchmaker tells the story of a woman whose name may have been struck from the annals, but whose comic adventures mark her as ahead of her times: a feminist avant la lettre, partnered with a male ally.