Sister My Sister

1994
R
1h 29m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

3.8K

YOUR RATING

Two sisters are reunited when they are hired as maids for a stern widow and her daughter. Tension turns to violence when the widow discovers the taboo sexual attraction between them.

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Psychological Thriller Drama Thriller

Two sisters separated in childhood reunite years later as servants at a household in France. Their happiness to be reunited spirals into an incestuous relationship.Two sisters separated in childhood reunite years later as servants at a household in France. Their happiness to be reunited spirals into an incestuous relationship.Two sisters separated in childhood reunite years later as servants at a household in France. Their happiness to be reunited spirals into an incestuous relationship.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

3.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 7 wins & 2 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 2:03

Trailer

Photos13

+ 6

User reviews28

6.53.8K

Featured reviews

fedor8

Finally a horror-drama that isn't stupid or dull.

The first fifteen-twenty minutes don't promise that much, but after that the film gets more and more interesting, all the way to the fascinating and brutal finale. Well-made, very well-acted, and an intelligent story (based on a real case) of sexual, emotional and any-other-kind-you-can-think-of repression. The director intentionally didn't show any men, even when their voices are heard (the photographer, the lawyers); this was done to try to show just how isolated and in their own world the two nun-turned-maid sisters really were. The characterization is flawless, and the increasing tension in the house is reflected by suitably atmospheric direction.

8=G=

A powerfully compelling psychodrama not for everyone

"Sister My Sister" tells of two live-in sibling housemaids working for a stingy, authoritarian dowager and her homely adult daughter in 1930's France. A dark, trudging, and eerily claustrophobic psychodrama, the film's compelling story waxes in severity as unspoken pressures and silent circumstance tear a rift between maids and mistress. Although the film deals with repressed sexuality, incest, pent-up hostility, and madness, it relies more on atmosphere and finely nuanced behavior to tell its story than in-your-face graphic sex, nudity, and mayhem. A masterwork of the less-is-more school film making which shows how so much can be accomplished with so little, "SMS" is a paradigm for indie auteurs and a spellbinding watch for the few. (B+)

8vivesi-1

If you're in the mood for murderous love

I liked everything about this movie, the story, casting, acting, direction, everything. Some frames are so beautiful that they look like paintings (think Degas and one frame, Seurat). The casting was perfect and Richardson delivered one of the bravest and best performances I've ever seen. The tension between both pairs of women--it was an amazing way to build suspense. Even if you don't completely understand the relationship between the two sisters, their passion is obvious. What a great find this movie is.

9strangeland_tours

Disturbing

The song at the start lets you know it won't be all pretty, it's a film loaded with repression, fears, despair and a developing mental breakdown.

I strongly recommend everyone (who likes that kind of things) to watch it and are looking for a film that will make you think about how society can isolate it's members from both sides.

I do not think homosexuality is the big factor here, watch closely and you'll see it's more about hitting bottom line.

There are other movies based on sisters Papin, unfortunately I haven't watched any of these, I can tell all of you tho, that these British actresses are of very fine quality, the entire ambient is dark and makes you inhale deeper.

This is my first review ever, so I hope it helps anyone to decide on whether watch Sister my sister or not.

by-tor-2

this hauntingly lurid movie is powerful

It could be said that good acting is that which requires a minimum of words to convey its idea or stir up the viewer's emotions. In this way, Jodhi May has proven herself as an astounding actress. Meek, yet passionate in her role as a sweet repressed sister, she steals the show with a third the dialogue of her costars. The movie demonstrates how facile the wealthy can be in their overestimation of the subservient's tolerance for callousness and mistreatment. This is a quiet movie that seems to soak in the sound around its viewing space like air through a partially open door---a phantom moving silent through the room, but not without leaving its indelible footprints behind.

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Storyline

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Trivia
Based on the play "My Sister In This House", by Wendy Kesselman, which was loosely based on the true story of the Papin sisters.

Quotes
Lea Papin: Tell me a story.
Christine Papin: Oh.
Lea Papin: Just one before we go down.
Christine Papin: Which one?
Lea Papin: Um, when I was little.
Christine Papin: You're still little.
Lea Papin: No, I mean really little. The one with the horse.
Christine Papin: Don't you ever get tired of it?
Lea Papin: No, tell me.
Christine Papin: When you were just a tiny thing, mama sent me out one day to get bread. You came with me the way you always did. And as we were walking, you let go of my hand and ran into the street.
Lea Papin: Tell it slower. you're telling it too fast.
Christine Papin: It was a long narrow street. You remember... on a hill. At the top of the hill, a horse and carriage was galloping down, right towards you. I ran into the street. I pulled you across. I pushed you down in the gutter with me... what a noise when the horse galloped by. And everyone was screaming. And when we stood up, we were both bleeding. But it was the same wound. It started on my arm and went down across your wrist. And look, we have it still.
Lea Papin: And mama, what did she say?
Christine Papin: Mama, you know how she gets. She screamed at us.
Lea Papin: And then what happened?
Christine Papin: Well, then there was the gypsy. Mad Marguerite they used to call her.
Lea Papin: And what did she say?
Christine Papin: You... you know it so well.
Lea Papin: No, tell me again, Christine. Tell me again.
Christine Papin: They're bound for life, Mad Marguerite said... bound in blood.