A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
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A Tale of Two Sisters Movie Review
A Tale of Two Sisters is a 2003 South Korean horror film directed by Kim Jee-woon and starring Im Soo-jung and Moon Geun-young. It’s a solid, but not great movie.
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“There was a girl under the kitchen sink“
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On returning home from a mental health facility, two sisters find that along with their stepmother, they have to find a way to deal with their late mother’s ghost who begins to haunt them. This is one of those films that start off very strong, but become worse and worse with each new revelation.
It’s a twisty story that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and it felt confusing to me, especially in its second half. The first twist in particular was too wild. The psychological horror overtones were superb and the atmosphere was quite remarkable, but the storytelling was beyond messy in this instance.
It’s a story about these mentally unstable women and how one family can totally corrode due to a couple of bad decisions made by some of the members. This idea that poor decisions would lead to terrible interpersonal relationships, which would then destroy an entire family was a sound one.
I just wish that the characters were better developed. The acting performances are uniformly strong and believable, but more development should have been given to both sisters and to the father and stepmother as well. That last one was too one-note in her villainy.
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A Tale of Two Sisters features a phenomenal atmosphere that is achieved through the use of an ominous score, striking imagery and excellent cinematography. The sound is also terrific as is the editing. The choice to use the supernatural elements and jump scares sporadically also paid off as it made for a restrained, more psychological horror. The dialogue is strong as well. I just wish that the narrative was better, more logical and easier to follow.
A Tale of Two Sisters is a solid psychological horror from Korea that is particularly effective at creating an ominous atmosphere. The dark imagery, eerie score and fantastic first half were the highlights here, but the problematic narrative with too many confusing twists was its biggest detractor.
My Rating – 3.5
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