Although A Tale of Two Sisters has some excellent suspense sequences, it falters badly during the dramatic parts.
A Tale of Two Sisters(장화, 홍련)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Korea · 2003
Rated R · 1h 55m
Director Kim Jee-woon
Starring Im Soo-jung, Yum Jung-ah, Moon Geun-young, Kim Kap-soo
Genre Drama, Horror, Mystery
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
A recently released patient from a mental institution returns home with her sister. Her father has remarried and the sisters dislike his new wife. As they attempt to settle into their routines despite this change, strange things start to happen around the house, and disturbing secrets are revealed.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Chicago Tribune by Allison Benedikt
It's a stunningly creepy specimen of Asian horror.
Masterfully manipulative and bloody scary.
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
Quite restrained for what's basically a horror movie, and very well acted.
It manages to suspend disbelief without over-taxing the viewer's patience, and boasts at least one terrific performance, by actress Yeom Jeong-ah as a scary stepmom.
No hack job. It has more impact than your Rings, Grudges, Eyes, Dark Waters…out there and it does it with a minimum of actual on-screen scares. Finally, a real filmmaker gives it like it should be given...and it hurts so good.
While all the pieces don't quite add up in the end, as memory, fantasy and delusion collide, the film succeeds again and again at pulling you to the edge of your seat and keeping you there.
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
Awkward storytelling and spotty exposition reduce it to a string of rude shocks--not even the eventual denouement provides a lucid enough account of where this is all coming from.
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
Either way, Kim's rather clumsily acted film remains monstrously effective ookiness, with crepuscular cinematography (by the Hollywood-destined Kim Byeong-il) that suggests a nightmare endured from inside a suffocating velvet pillowcase.
Kim weaves these clichés into effectively nerve-wracking setpieces, though between the jumps, A Tale Of Two Sisters becomes mired in ponderous melodrama.
Users who liked this film also liked
Rapture
(Arrebato)
José Sirgado is a director of horror films who one day receives a reel of film from a mysterious filmmaker.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 1980
- Director Iván Zulueta
- Cast Eusebio Poncela, Cecilia Roth, Will More, Marta Fernández Muro, Helena Fernán Gómez, Carmen Giralt
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Horror
- Available on Shudder, Shudder Amazon Channel, OVID, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Shudder Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
The Nameless
(Los sin nombre)
Trying to reach the limits of evil... But evil has no limits.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 1999
- Director Jaume Balagueró
- Cast Emma Vilarasau, Karra Elejalde, Tristán Ulloa, Pep Tosar, Jordi Dauder, Toni Sevilla
- Genre Thriller, Mystery, Horror
- Available on No streaming locations found.
A Bittersweet Life
(달콤한 인생)
Revenge is taken on a high-ranking mobster after he refuses to follow his boss’s orders and spares two people’s lives.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2005
- Director Kim Jee-woon
- Cast Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Roe-ha, Oh Dal-su
- Genre Action, Crime, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Exiled
(放‧逐)
A former mobster attempting to live quietly with his family deals with two pairs of hitmen from his past.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong • 2006
- Director Johnnie To
- Cast Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Simon Yam, Nick Cheung, Richie Ren, Roy Cheung
- Genre Action, Crime, Thriller
- Available on Tubi TV, Kanopy, Plex Channel
Angelique and the King
(Angélique et le roy)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy, West Germany • 1966
- Director Bernard Borderie
- Cast Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, Jean Rochefort, Jacques Toja, Sami Frey, Estella Blain
- Genre Adventure, History, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Wishing Stairs
(여고괴담 3: 여우계단)
Watch your step
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2003
- Director Yun Jae-yeon
- Cast Song Ji-hyo, Park Han-byul, Jo An, Park Ji-yeon, Gong Sang-ah, Hong Soo-a
- Genre Horror
- Available on Kanopy
A Snake of June
(六月の蛇)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2003
- Director Shinya Tsukamoto
- Cast Asuka Kurosawa, Yûji Kôtari, Shinya Tsukamoto, Mansaku Fuwa, Tomorowo Taguchi, Susumu Terajima
- Genre Romance, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, AsianCrush, ARROW, Midnight Pulp, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
My Little Bride
(어린 신부)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2004
- Director Kim Ho-joon
- Cast Moon Geun-young, Kim Rae-won, Kim Bo-kyung, Ahn Sun-Young, Kim In-mun, Song Ki-Yoon
- Genre Romance, Drama, Comedy
- Available on Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, AsianCrush, Cineverse
Morphine
(Морфий)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Russia • 2008
- Director Aleksey Balabanov
- Cast Leonid Bichevin, Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė, Andrei Panin, Svetlana Pismichenko, Katarina Radivojević, Aleksandr Mosin
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Finding Mr. Destiny
(김종욱 찾기)
First Love Agency: at your service 24/7
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2010
- Director Jang Yoo-jung
- Cast Lim Soo-jung, Gong Yoo, Cheon Ho-jin, Jeon Soo-kyung, Ryu Seung-su, Lee Chung-ah
- Genre Family, Drama, Comedy, Romance
- Available on Tubi TV, The Roku Channel
The Sex Of The Angels
(El sexo de los ángeles)
All beautiful and all in love, but this not heaven...
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain, Brazil • 2012
- Director Xavier Villaverde
- Cast Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Lluïsa Castell, Álvaro Cervantes, Llorenç González, Ricard Farré, Marc Garcia Coté
- Genre Romance, Drama
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Someone's Gaze
(だれかのまなざし)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2013
- Director Makoto Shinkai
- Cast Satomi Hanamura, Shinji Ogawa, Fumi Hirano
- Genre Animation, Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Kundo: Age of the Rampant
(군도: 민란의 시대)
In 19th century Korea, a group of bandits avenges the poor by stealing from the rich.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2014
- Director Yoon Jong-bin
- Cast Ha Jung-woo, Gang Dong-won, Cho Jin-woong, Lee Kyung-young, Ma Dong-seok, Lee Sung-min
- Genre Action
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Kocowa, Hi-YAH, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Rakuten Viki, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, YouTube Free, Freevee, Xumo Play, Plex, Plex Channel
The Wailing
(곡성)
"Somebody better call the exorcist!"
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea, United States • 2016
- Director Na Hong-jin
- Cast Kwak Do-won, Hwang Jung-min, Chun Woo-hee, Jun Kunimura, Kim Hwan-hee, Heo Jin
- Genre Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, fuboTV, Criterion Channel, Peacock Premium, Kocowa, Hi-YAH, Netflix basic with Ads, Rakuten Viki, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla
Two Irenes
(As Duas Irenes)
Two young girls, both named Irene, discover they are tied together by a dark, shocking secret.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2017
- Director Fabio Meira
- Cast Priscila Bittencourt, Isabela Torres, Marco Ricca, Susana Ribeiro, Inês Peixoto
- Genre Drama
- Available on Film Movement Plus
The Witness
(목격자)
The killer is out there
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2018
- Director Cho Kyu-jang
- Cast Lee Sung-min, Kim Sang-ho, Jin Kyung, Kwak Si-yang, Bae Jung-hwa, Shin Seung-hwan
- Genre Thriller
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw
- ✭ ✭
- Canada • 2021
- Director Thomas Robert Lee
- Cast Catherine Walker, Jared Abrahamson, Hannah Anderson, Geraldine O'Rawe, Don McKellar, Sean McGinley
- Genre Horror, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, VUDU Free, Freevee, Plex, Plex Channel