Review of A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) by Alex B — 21 Nov 2014

Okay movie, but a little too plodding. The acting is okay,and the movie is decent. The gist is, girl comes back home from the mental hospital after a mental break down. Then things get weird, but never too weird.

What should be a movie about how the mind can be a dangerous weapon when turned on itself, ends up being a confusing mess until the final act when they hurriedly rush to connect all the dots in an all too convenient manner.

I've seen a lot of movies like this since I tend to seek them out, and this one was not done clearly. They needed to blend reality with fantasy better. Instead the whole movie up until the end is all from the girls perspective and how she sees her world.

That's the major problem. They never let up on it, there isn't ever a moment where the story leaves her perspective and world view. I wish you had a scene where the "evil" stepmother was humanized just so you could see that maybe what's being shown isn't to be fully trusted/ Plant that seed of doubt in the viewers and confuse them, that's how you do these types of movies.

Though what I liked about it was that it rarely used typical Asian demons and monsters, I think there is one or two scenes that feature supernatural elements such as women in white with black hair covering their face.