Program Note
What is real, and what is fake? Sisterhood is a film that moves toward an answer to this question, and as such, nothing presented before the ending should be trusted too easily. Jung Yul-hee (Kim Jooryoung) is a bestselling author often dubbed the ‘Queen of Mystery’. After inheriting a house from her father, she relocates to a remote area with her daughter So-hee (Choi Myeong Been). Struggling to juggle her new novel and her daughter’s school life, Yul-hee hires Mi-jee (Han Ji Hyeon), a local girl who has become close to So-hee, as a kind of housekeeper. Mi-jee claims to be a devoted fan of Yul-hee’s writing, and at first, everything seems to go smoothly. But cracks slowly begin to form in their relationship.
Yul-hee’s book gained attention for its portrayal of a special bond between women, and the film gradually works to uncover the truth behind that bond. Categorized as a horror film, Sisterhood doesn’t depict solidarity as a cheerful, shoulder-to-shoulder camaraderie. Instead, it unravels the tangled and possibly toxic relationships between Yul-hee, her daughter, and Mi-jee, examining their connection more as a cursed entanglement than a supportive alliance. True to its focus on the darker aspects of solidarity, the film also delves into a distorted portrayal of motherhood, exposing the falsity of the maternal myth. It’s only by the end that we come to understand why the film is titled ‘Sisterhood’—not ‘Motherhood’. (HUH Namwoong)