A Tale of Two Sisters

A Tale of Two Sisters is… you guessed it… a tale of two sisters. Young Su-mi and Su-yeon (Su-jeong Lim, Geun-yeong Mun) are returning to their grand, waterside home after an unexplained (to the audience) stay in the hospital. At first things appear normal, but the family dynamic has changed drastically — Su-mi and Su-yeon develop a bitter resentment towards their harridan of a stepmother Eun-joo (Jung-ah Yum), whom they see as a usurper. Their simmering anger carries over to their father, who always seems ever so slightly out of touch with what’s going on all around him. Jealousy and rage boil over and a battle begins over the fragile Su-yeon between the abusive stepmother and the older sister Su-mi.

Unfolding like a gothic classic, A Tale of Two Sisters is slow at first, but builds suspense and momentum as it reveals more and more of the terrible secret no one wants brought to light. Although I won’t say it’s as good, A Tale of Two Sisters does feel something like Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone — it’s an artistic ghost story of human emotions, melancholia, and deep, dark mysteries. And like that movie, A Tale of Two Sisters is not necessarily meant to be scary; it’s meant to be chilling, thought-provoking and unsettling.

A nice byproduct of an intellectual, insidious creepy little story like this is that while it does not exist merely to scare, it has some truly frightening moments that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

If you are looking for a cohesive plot and a “message” at the end, you won’t get that. (And if you are a fan of Asian horror, you won’t be expecting it.) However there is revelation and resolution and a tidy tying up at the conclusion, which I did appreciate. I don’t mind the ambiguity of most of these types of horror films, but with the word “tale” in the title, it’s not unreasonable to expect a beginning, middle and end. While the movie is not linear, it thankfully all makes sense at its finale.

A Tale of Two Sisters is very well-acted, deftly directed, and most rewarding of all — beautifully photographed in a grand, Victorian-by-way-of-Korea mansion, punctuated with an excellent music and sound score. Slow at first, it’s well worth sticking with.

The extras on the DVD explore the sets and visual aspects of the move in depth, and it’s a rewarding viewing experience. A great featurette on the disc is a look at how the movie poster was shot — sounds boring, but it’s not at all. There is also an amusing interview with the CGI wizards who admit they really didn’t know what they were doing as they were working with Ji-woon Kim, the secretive director.

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson