YMMV / A Tale of Two Sisters

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• Adaptation Displacement: Some people had no idea of the folk tale until they saw this movie.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: In this film, there is a lot of stuff that goes on that doesn't immediately make sense and you have to think about it in order to get what is going on. Therefore, Western viewers can be forgiven for the Epileptic Trees they come up with in trying to deduce the symbolism of the tents right by the road in the scene where the girls' uncle and his wife are driving at night. These tents are actually a common sight in rural areas of Korea as they serve an agricultural purpose.
• Epileptic Trees: Wow. Where to begin?
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • A flashback at the very end of the film reveals that Eun-ju witnessed Su-yeon being crushed by the cupboard, but did nothing to help her. This is even worse considering Eun-ju was going back to help Su-yeon, but decided not to just to spite Su-mi. Yikes.
  • Also, the sequence in which Eun-ju locks Su-yeon inside the cupboard that terrifies the latter so much and refuses to let her out, despite her heartbreaking screams. It turns out to be a subversion once it's revealed to be in Su-mi's mind, but the truth is even worse.
• Nausea Fuel:
  • The scene in which the wife of the girls' uncle vomits whilst having a fit (and possibly being possessed), before getting it in her hair and on her face during her spasms.
  • The fish carcass in the fridge.
• Rewatch Bonus: Several scenes. The film usually requires a second or a third viewing to understand just what is going on, and, after the numerous revelations, almost every scene takes on a hugely different light.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Moo-hyeon is clearly struggling with the deaths of his former wife and his daughter, and doing his best to look after Su-mi. The problem is that a lot of the things Moo-hyeon does around his mentally ill daughter are immensely stupid, such as telling Su-mi to simply not talk about the wardrobe (rather than get rid of the obvious reminder of a horrible trauma) and leaving her alone when she's having a breakdown, and only serve to exacerbate the situation. May cross over with Values Dissonance.

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