A Tale of Two Sisters (2003): Film Review

For the month that’s in it – when the veil between worlds is lifted and the dead walk amongst us – I present a series of scary movie reviews. The first is a haunting, oddly moving, and in places mind-bendingly freakish and terrifying film from Korea, directed by Jee-woon Kim, best known for A Bittersweet Life and ugh, The Good, the Bad and the Weird. To describe the plot in detail would give away the most crucial twists, and believe me, you don’t want to be spoiled for those. However, there is a certain amount of unavoidable spoilage, so I would greatly recommend watching the film first, instead of shaking your outraged first at the computer screen.

The film is framed by scenes which take place in some kind of hospital (or more likely, asylum). A doctor questions a young woman whose face is obscured. She seems unaware of where she is, or even who she is. The doctor’s inquiry, “Who do you think you are?” launches an extended sequence which plays with the audience’s perception of time. We are unsure if the story takes place in flashback or is a continuation of the hospital scene, and this ambiguity fuels the unsettling atmosphere which builds as the plot unfolds.

On a bright, sunny day – redolent of many a childhood idyll – a teenaged girl, Soo-mi (played by the stunningly versatile Su-jeong Lim, also seen in I’m a Cyborg) returns home after an unexplained absence. With her is her younger sister Soo-yeon (Geun-Young Moon), and it quickly becomes clear that Soo-mi is extremely protective of her. Their depressive father (Kap-su Kim) adamantly refuses to speak about the event which led to Soo-mi’s prolonged stint away from home.

Jung-ah Yum plays the obligatory evil stepmother, whose suspiciously sunny disposition belies a cruel streak which is directed at Soo-yeon in particular. However, it becomes clear that not all is as it seems. The house itself seems to be seething with unhappiness, groaning, creaking and projecting apparitions to visitors. Here lies the film’s most deceptive aspect. The controversial poster is suggestive of horrific abuse, and this scene in particular might easily have been plucked from Ringu, Ju-on or a variety of other Asian horror films. However, A Tale of Two Sisters is even more twisted and psychologically perverse than any of that genre.

Soo-mi’s mental state begins to disintegrate as the horrible truth becomes apparent – that she has created a house of cards to avoid facing a horrible event involving Soo-yeon and their mother. The father’s jaded refusal to engage with Soo-mi’s confabulations becomes more understandable – though still frustrating. The audience is left wondering which parts of the film are real and which are imagined. We question if the house is really haunted or are the creepy events solely the product of the characters’ guilty consciences.

Despite the increasingly unpleasant occurrences which highlight the fracturing psyche of the lead character, the film is ultimately less a study of mental illness and more a moving and haunting ode to a love between two sisters. Soo-mi’s need to protect Soo-yeon expresses her inability to absolve herself of her perceived failures. Her projections reveal an overwhelming guilt that has shattered her ability to handle reality. As the film concludes, it is clear that she will continue to exist within a neverending loop of her own creation.

The poignancy of this ending – in addition to the creeping sense of unease that pervades the film, which contrasts the nostalgic, summer holiday-feel of the early scenes, as well as the psychological complexity of the story’s development – lifts Two Sisters head and shoulders above practically every other movie of its genre. It is extremely difficult to define and catagorise – it is an entity all of its own, and an almost perfect one at that.

9/10