Let's start with my conclusion. This is a wonderful movie. It's horror, drama and psychological thriller, all brilliantly compiled into a two hours movie. Superb cinematography, intricate plotting, marvelous acting... A Tale Of Two Sisters is extraordinary in every aspect.

The overture to this South-Korean movie is simple. Two adolescent girls, Su-mi (Im Soo-jeong) and Su-yeon (Mun Geun-Yeong), return home from hospital with their father. Their condescending and suspiciously omnipresent stepmother (Yeom Jeong-ah) is both welcoming and criticizing them in equal measure. Tension between the three women grows thicker as Su-Mi, the stronger sister, protects -- and, increasingly, harmfully overprotects -- the weaker one from the stepmother, who may be a stronger threat than either of them can handle.

Relationships in the household spiral downward to the point of open hostility and wicked mindgames to which only the puzzlingly sedate father (Kim Kap-su) seems immune. On top of this, gruesome apparitions seem to visit the isolated house. And just as one wonders how much better -- or worse -- things would have been before the girls were sent away, director and writer Kim Ji-woon drops the first twist-bomb that instantly provides clues to what happened before, hinting at a possible murder in the very recent past and making the viewer replay the preceding hour in his mind from a whole new perspective.

Not all is as it first seemed to be, and much of what had been presented as reality turns out to be a distorted viewpoint. Further revelations twist the plot even further, turning the movie into a narrative jigsaw puzzle that is ultimately left for the viewer to solve, a puzzle that becomes diabolically clever as the feud continues, ultimately unfolding in an equally fascinating and gruesome climax that initially seems confusing, but on second thought turns out to be awesomely ingenious. And instead of being an obstacle to enjoyment, the uncertainty about what is actually happening and what's real or not only adds to the sense of unease, with tension mounting higher with some very effective shocks for good measure.

Structurally, comparisons could be made to similar supernatural American thrillers, like The Others, Identity, Jacob's Ladder et al, where the ending makes you reevaluate everything you've been seeing, and rescreen to see if the director was sharp enough to have included the cues you obviously missed. But supernatural explanations are not required here to understand the bizarre, seemingly paranormal occurrences inside the house. On the contrary, suspension of (dis)belief in the supernatural is the film's ultimate objective and I've yet to see a more clever way to achieve this, even in the consistently rewarding Asian horror oeuvre.

Acting performances are stunning, given the ambiguity of the roles. Mun Geun-Yeong as the younger sister Su-yeon is fragile and sweet, in stark contrast to Yeom Jeong-ah's two-faced stepmother. Im Soo-jeong as the movie's central character Su-mi carries the movie impressively, conveying fear, anger and confusion at all the right moments without ever going overboard. Kim Gap-soo as the father doesn't have much on-screen time but has a silent omnipresence in the background and appears duly haunted.

Loosely based on a Korean folk tale, Kim Ji-woon's adaptation twists the source material beyond recognition by keeping the father, stepmother and two daughters from the original tale but pretty much abandoning the rest. His version is a successful attempt to update the story to a more contemporary context while retaining the scary, sad and touching aspects of the original tale.

Contributing to the film's atmosphere is the distinctive production design. The house is the setting for the most part, which is decorated with dense floral patterns and colorful textures. But instead of being warm and welcoming, it feels dark and oppressive, as if evil is hiding somewhere in the intricate patterns.

Kim Ji-woon takes his time to build up the atmosphere in the movie. It's not dialogue-heavy and some scenes don't seem to have anything going on at all. But this doesn't slow the movie down. It's deliberately paced, giving leverage to things to come. It's as if he keeps you hanging in his web, and you know he can get you with his deadly sting anytime he chooses, and you're damn sure that he will. Behold the workings of a gifted filmmaker.

DreamWorks bought the remake rights for this movie, but I'm having a hard time trying to imagine how a major Hollywood studio would make a film with such a complex and layered narrative. Whoever gets perplexed by this Korean original and prefers a more straightforward approach to storytelling may favor what's likely to become a simplified American version. Those of you who dig splatter and gore are advised to reconsider watching any rendition of this movie though. It does contain its fair share of blood but no guts, maggots or fermented pizzas. And those of you who're into what I'll roughly qualify as 'MTV horror' (you know who you are) may do the same, you'll find this movie slow, confusing and unentertaining. But if you don't mind reading subtitles while watching a movie, if you love Ringu and the like or any of the other movies I made reference to here, or if you're just a serious quality horror fan who faithfully reads Classic-Horror reviews before and after having watched a movie: don't miss this one.