A Tale of Two Sisters

A

Directed by Kim ji woon

Kim ji-woon's critically lauded "Tale of Two Sisters" is, to be brief, a superior horror film. Frightening, intelligent, and visually stunning, Kim's film has been considered by many to be the gold standard of asian horror films since its release.

Su-mi and her sister Su-yeon return to their father's country home after a brief absence. They are greeted by their screechy, domineering stepmother who Su-mi quickly locks horns with. Although it's Su-mi, the louder, more confrontational of the two sisters, that mostly does battle with the stepmother, it's Su-yeon who seems to suffer the most at her hands. Meanwhile, the girl's father seems uninterested in brokering a ceasefire between the two sides. When strange things begin to hapopen around the house, events quickly boil over and the situation comes to a head.

"A Tale of Two Sisters" is everything you could possibly want in psyhological thriller/horror movie. It's smart, surprising, scary at times, exceptionally well crafted and technically sound as well. The denouement may be far fetched and the twists, while jaw dropping, are pretty extreme but what's important is that the whole thing works. There are no gaping plot holes or far fetched explanations needed to explain the film's twists and it's the type of movie that, with a few repeat viewings, you can figure out fully on your own. I always appreciate a film that is complex enough to keep you on your toes and make you think but doesn't need to be disected for years on end on IMDB's message boards before anyone has a clue what it was about.
"A Tale of Two Sister's" strikes a perfect balance between accesibility and artistic daring which was demonstrated quite emphatically by the film's huge success both at the domestic box office in Korea and the almost universal praise it garnered from critics. Kim ji woon has since established himself as one of the foremost director's in the world at crafting critically acclaimed blockbusters. He's sort of the Christopher Nolan of the East, in a way. Maybe we can get him to direct a chapter of the "Batman" series when Nolan decides to retire.