A tale of two sisters (2003)

 

Quick summary: 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.

Genre: Horror/Thriller        Time: 1h 55m            Director:  Kim Jee-woon

Tension is Always high throughout this. Two sisters return back to their home after their mother's death to find that their stepmother is Very cold towards them. Though the trio does try to force themselves to get along, which ends up making the tension a lot worse. 

One sibling chooses to be very obedient, silent, and reserved becoming very scared of the stepmother (Soo-yeon), whilst the other always argues and outright refuses to get along with the stepmother (Soo-mi). Although, the stepmother is quite a lot to handle as well, and becomes a lot more estranged and cruel as the film goes on.

Now, this isn't really a scary horror at all, it's more to trick you with the surprise ending (Which I will not spoil). Your mind is constantly tested to see if you can pick it up, which is why it's well worth watching more than once as once you know the ending it is very interesting to see the clues left throughout it. 

This film rewards the viewer for paying close attention to the details it leaves, in the script, the background, and the camera work. There are flashbacks sporadically thrown in, all very quick snapshots throwing you potentially off from guessing what has happened. There is a few clues that are sat right in your face, but they come across as normal conversation so that once you watch it again, you realize in fact how many clues were laid out in plain view.
The dysfunction in the family is painfully obvious, even in the camerawork, you can always sense how high the tension is. Nobody wants to talk and the father has simply given up trying to get them to get along.  The father even chooses to sleep downstairs away from the stepmother. 

The sound design is what carries this film, from running footsteps in the night to screeching string instruments. This paired with quick cuts makes it all that much tenser. Though it knows exactly when to be silent, leaving the viewer holding their breath as they wait to see what happens. 

The background visuals are a key thing in this film too, bold colorful patterns are amplified to draw your eye naturally to the background since this is where most of the jumpscares and clues happen. Though they are all drawn in a very very dark light, adding to the unwelcoming atmosphere, it will also do a 180 flip and cast some scenes in warm bright light to pretty much trick the viewer into thinking things are warmer, cheerier, and much happier, and nothing will happen.

As things reach their boiling point, the twists begin to unravel in succession but not in order which does, unfortunately, muddle the film up in my opinion. I do honestly think the main twist is very clever and makes it all worth watching. This film is very good at showing how complicated a family can be, confusing the viewer (in a good way), and exploring mental health issues in a very unique way.

6/10

• "The World Isn't As Sweet As You Picture It. Sometimes You Have To Bear The Worst And Live On"

• "You Might Regret This Moment"

• "Do Know What's Really Scary? You Want To Forget Something ... But You Never Can ... And It Follows You Around Like A Ghost"