There are a few things to have in mind before making your choice to watch it.
First, the film can get confusing at some points, so you need to be patient and focused on the details. It is not a film that I recommend watching while you are doing something else, which is not necessarily bad but expected because of the complex nature of the story.
It’s crude, even sadistic at some points, so if you are looking for something rough but also a good psychological horror film, you are nearing the right place.
There are no spoilers, but it has a huge plot twist. I know people who don’t really like plot twists of this magnitude and readers who love them. The film is going to play with your perception. This kind of psychological film usually has this crazy plot twist that makes the story make a lot more sense.
Let’s answer the critical question with all that information on the board.
Is This Movie Worth Watching?
Final Verdict: Yes. 6.8 In The Scale Of Worthiness.
It has great things but can be better. Even though I give it a six-point eight, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad film or a mediocre one. Remember that the worth-to-watch scale is not the same as the quality scale. It’s a good psychological film; it deserves your attention, but if you are thinking about watching, for example, The Call, and you don’t know what to choose, I recommend you watch The Call first and then A Tale of Two Sisters.
Plot
Dive into the eerie and captivating world of “A Tale of Two Sisters,” a psychological horror film from South Korea released in 2003.
The plot centers around a girl who has just returned from a mental institution, reuniting with her sister. Together, they face a barrage of unsettling and deeply disturbing occurrences that unravel around them.
This film will not leave you untouched. It will play with the perception that viewers create about the characters and slowly reveal everyone’s true faces and secrets. It’s a surprising movie with morbid scenes.
In moments, this film can get very tense.
The movie plays with the psychology of the characters and the viewer, so if you like twisted situations and psychological horror in general, this film is for you.
It concentrates a lot on making ambient and creating an organic sense of despair in the viewer, and the last act is both heartbreaking and genuinely sadistic.
Cast
- Im Soo-jung as Bae Su-mi
- Moon Geun-young as Bae Su-yeon
- Yum Jung-ah as Heo Eun-joo
- Kim Kap-soo as Bae Moo-hyeon
- Lee Seung-bi as Mi-hee (Eun-Joo’s sister-in-law)
- Lee Dae-Yeon as Su-mi’s doctor
- Park Mi-hyun as Mrs Bae (Moo-hyeon’s first wife and Su-mi’s and Su-yeon’s mother)
- Woo Ki-hong as Sun-kyu (Eun-Joo’s brother
Reception
The movie received excellent commercial and critical reception.
It won as the Best Picture at the 2004 Fantasporto Film Festival.
It’s, to date, the highest-grossing horror film in all of South Korean film history.
It was also the first South Korean movie released in the United States.
Critics
Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 86% based on 63 reviews, averaging 7.1/10.
“Restrained but disturbing, A Tale of Two Sisters is a creepily effective, if at times confusing, horror movie.”
“A triumph of stylish, darkly absurdist horror that even manages to strike a chord of Shakespearean tragedy – and evokes a sense of wonder anew at all the terrible things people do to themselves and each other.”
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Awards
- 2003 Sitges Film Festival
- Nomination – Best Film
2003 Screamfest Horror Film Festival - Best Picture
Best Actress – Im Soo-jung
2003 Busan Film Critics Awards - Best New Actress – Im Soo-jung
Best Cinematography – Lee Mo-gae
Special Jury Prize – Kim Jee-woon
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