''Sister, Sister'' is a 1987 American

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of Gothic fiction, fiction, Popular music, music, Gothic film, film, theatre, and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic fiction, Gothic elements and the Southern United States, American South. ...

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...

film directed and co-written by

Bill Condon William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including ''Gods and Monsters (film), Gods and Monsters'', ''Chicago (2002 fi ...

in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

, and starring Eric Stoltz,

Jennifer Jason Leigh Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). She re ...

, and

Judith Ivey Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for '' Steaming'' (1981) and '' Hurlyburly'' (1984). She also received Best Actress In A P ...

. It follows two sisters operating an inn in the Louisiana bayou, whose dark secrets come to light after the arrival of a male guest.

Plot

Lucy Bonnard, a young woman with a history of mental illness, helps her older sister, Charlotte, operate the Willows, an inn at their familial plantation in the

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

bayou. The sexually-frustrated Lucy is unsuccessfully courted by Etienne LeViolette, her childhood friend who now works as a handyman for the sisters. Charlotte is carrying on a romance with town sheriff Cleve Bonnard, but he ends the relationship, blaming Charlotte's overbearing devotion to caring for Lucy. Late one night, Matt Rutledge, a congressional aide from Washington, D. C., arrives at the inn as a guest, and soon finds himself attracted to Lucy. Three other guests—Mrs. Bettleheim, her daughter, Fran, and son-in-law, Lenny—arrive, and the group share dinner. When a storm causes a power outage, Lucy entertains the guests by telling a

ghost story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

about Jud Nevins, a man who disappeared in the bayou years ago. Lucy claims that other spirits in the area protect her from the malevolent Jud. Etienne, observing Matt's romantic advances toward Lucy, becomes enraged. That night, as Lucy sleeps, an unseen assailant spies on her from a hole in the attic floor, and later lurks downstairs while Mrs. Bettelheim has a snack in the kitchen. In the morning, Charlotte and Lucy find that their beloved dog, Beaux, has been murdered. Lucy becomes hysterical and blames Jud's ghost. Moments later, Etienne appears at the house accusing Charlotte of being Jud's killer. Later that night, when Matt returns to the Willows, Etienne stops him on the road and warns him that Charlotte is dangerous. Meanwhile, Cleve reviews Jud's

missing person A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as Life, alive or Death, dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accide ...

file at the police station, and finds a photograph of Jud with a young boy who resembles Matt. Matt returns to the house, but Charlotte forbids him from seeing Lucy, whom she has locked in her bedroom. Lucy manages to smash a window to alert Matt, who rushes upstairs and breaks down her bedroom door. The two have sex in Lucy's bedroom. After, while Lucy takes a bath, she recalls a

repressed memory Repressed memory is a controversial, and largely scientifically discredited, psychiatric phenomenon which involves an inability to recall autobiographical information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature. The concept originated in psych ...

from her childhood: During a

Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

party at the Willows, Lucy and Etienne played a game of hide-and-seek in a nearby graveyard. There, Lucy witnessed Charlotte being assaulted by Jud, and attempted to stop it. Jud attacked Lucy, leading Charlotte to stab him to death. Charlotte and Lucy disposed of Jud's corpse in the bayou. When Charlotte sent Lucy back to the graveyard to retrieve Jud's baseball cap, Lucy observed the silhouette of a boy from a distance, whom she assumed was Etienne. Lucy, rattled by her disturbing memory, sees a man wearing Jud's jacket and baseball cap outside, and runs after him. Shortly after, Etienne is shot with a bow and arrow in the bayou by an unseen assailant. Etienne crawls to the front porch of his shack, where the assailant confronts him, and is revealed to be Matt, Jud's younger brother; the boy Lucy saw in the graveyard the night of Jud's murder was not Etienne, but Matt. Matt flees when he hears Lucy approaching. Lucy arrives at Etienne's shack just as he dies of his wounds. Lucy returns to the house and is consoled by Matt, unaware that he is Etienne's murderer. Matt implies that Charlotte murdered Etienne. When Charlotte confronts Lucy downstairs, Lucy accuses her of having her institutionalized to keep their secret safe. A confrontation with Matt follows, during which Charlotte explains to Lucy that Matt is manipulating her to avenge his brother's death. Overwhelmed, Lucy flees into the bayou, reaching the spot where they disposed of Jud's body years ago. Matt attempts to drown Lucy in the swamp, but a number of hands emerge from beneath, pulling him under and killing him. A bewildered Lucy watches as a mysterious fog rolls in, and the ghostly figures of several people—among them Etienne—emerge before vanishing. Some time later, Lucy helps Charlotte prepare for her wedding to Cleve at the Willows. While looking at herself in the mirror, Lucy has a vision of Matt breaking through the glass and attacking her. She is at first terrified, only to realize it was merely a vision.

Cast

Production

stated his intention with ''Sister, Sister'' was to make a '' Grand Guignol'' horror piece based on character and atmosphere. Condon and co-writer Joel Cohen wrote the script over the course of 12 weeks.

Casting

Benjamin Mouton was recommended for the role of Etienne to director Bill Condon by talent agent Bryan Lourd.

Filming

Principal photography of ''Sister, Sister'' began on November 11, 1986 in

. The interiors were filmed at Madewood Plantation House on Bayou Lafourche, while the exteriors were shot at Greenwood Plantation in St. Francisville. Filming completed on January 30, 1987.

Release

''Sister, Sister'' premiered at the

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on September 11, 1987. It later opened theatrically in the United States on February 5, 1988.

Critical response

Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' panned the film as "such a silly and contrived piece of Southern Gothic nonsense that it deserves to end up on the lower half of the bill with that other piece of bayou bilge, '' Shy People''," adding that "Condon, who is also making his feature directorial debut, compounds a lack of originality by taking his material too seriously." Michael Sragow of the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

'' compared the film negatively against '' Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte'' (1964), criticizing the film for having a "hyperbolic tone

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

suggests affectionate parody."

Home media

On January 16, 2001, ''Sister, Sister'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Anchor Bay Entertainment The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre ...

and again 10 years later by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

. In 2022, the film was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

by Vinegar Syndrome. This edition features a restored 2K restoration of the film from its 35 mm

interpositive An interpositive, intermediate positive, IP or master positive is a motion picture film with a positive image made from the edited camera negative. Interpositive film uses colored dye couplers that create an orange mask like the camera negative ...

and extra features including audio commentaries, deleted scenes, cast and crew interviews, and the film's original theatrical trailer.

References

External links

* * * {{Bill Condon 1987 films 1987 directorial debut films 1987 horror films 1980s English-language films 1987 independent films 1980s mystery films 1980s psychological thriller films American films about revenge American ghost films American horror thriller films American independent films American mystery films American supernatural horror films Films about dysfunctional families Films about sisters Films directed by Bill Condon Films set in Louisiana Films shot in Louisiana Films with screenplays by Joel Cohen Films with screenplays by Bill Condon Films scored by Richard Einhorn New World Pictures films Southern Gothic films 1980s American films English-language horror films English-language independent films English-language mystery films English-language thriller films