I've been putting off seeing this American re-make for a while, primarily because I wasn't so impressed by the original Japanese movie, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS. However, so much is changed that it bears little resemblance to its predecessor. It seems very much more a remake of Thomas Tryon's THE OTHER.
Anna returns home after ten months in a mental institution. She had tried to kill herself after the death of her ill mother, who burned to death in an accident. Her father (David Strathairn) is now in a relationship with Rachel (Elizabeth Banks), who was the mother's nurse. Anna does not like this at all--and with the encouragement of her sister, Alex, comes to the conclusion that Rachel had set that fire in order to marry her father. So Anna does what she can to prevent this.
Although I knew what the main "surprise revelation" was--that Alex died in that fire as well--there's enough of a twist to make the movie interesting.
The one thing that always irritates me about these Asian remakes is that the American producers always cast these vaguely-Asian looking actresses in the leads, such as with Jessica Alba in THE EYE, Shannon Sossamon in ONE MISSED CALL, and here, Emily Browning.
I've been putting off seeing this American re-make for a while, primarily because I wasn't so impressed by the original Japanese movie, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS. However, so much is changed that it bears little resemblance to its predecessor. It seems very much more a remake of Thomas Tryon's THE OTHER.
