A Tale of Two Sisters

Another South Korean horror film, A Tale of Two Sisters follows the general trend of K-Horror of incorporating the undying memory tragedy. Having seen this film when it came out theatrically in the country (I was so young back then and did not fully understand the nuances and complexities in the plot), viewing it in class again after so many years brought back not only fond memories of seeing it with my father in one of our movie night-outs but also gave me an opportunity to revisit and reassess it.


A Tale of Two Sisters is traditional Korean horror in the sense that it follows and exhibits the greater trend of having a protagonist forget what has happened only to remember it in the climax or resolution of the film but is also refreshing in that it highlights and reveals a nuanced glimpse at contemporary family politics and relations in South Korea. The film being based on old South Korean folklore, the film offers an interesting update where the stock character of the stepmother is followed only to be taken apart in the end with the revelation that all has been in the protagonist's mind. The narrative framing devices compensate for this adherence to South Korean formula and the journey from introduction to exposition to realization to close is made spellbinding by the dynamics of the relationships presented and the tensions that arise from them.

At the heart of the film is an honest portrait of a crumbling family structure who in the face of change gives way to differences. The destruction of established roles of family members and the constant transgression of one character stepping into the roles of another (as revealed later, that the daughter thinks herself to be the stepmother and fashions herself a reanimation of her sister) highlight the horror of the film. Other details presented in the subjectivity of characters' perceptions are left ambiguous enough for the successful and satisfactory final unraveling of truth.

A film that goes under and then beyond the confines of the tradition from which it takes root, A Tale of Two Sisters is a horror film worthy of the critical praise it has been overwhelmingly met with.