Sister, Sister (1987 film)

Sister, Sister is a 1987 American Southern Gothic thriller film directed and co-written by Bill Condon in his directorial debut, and starring Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Judith Ivey.

Plot
Matt Rutledge goes on vacation to the Louisiana bayou country. He decides to stay at an old plantation house which is now a boarding house owned by two sisters, Charlotte and Lucy.

Charlotte is in her 30s, in and out of love with the town sheriff, Cleve Doucet. Lucy is in her 20s and has a long history of mental illness and contact with the ghosts of several people who have died in a bayou near their home. Lucy falls in love with Matt, and the characters find themselves involved in murder, betrayal and dark secrets from the past, which are revealed gradually in flashback.

When Charlotte was a teenager and Lucy was a child, Matt's older brother Jud had tried to rape them and they had killed him in self-defense. But in panic they had dragged his body into a bayou and not reported the incident to anyone. Jud's death was a terrible secret only the sisters shared, and it was to some extent responsible for Lucy's mental problems.

But unknown to them, Matt – whom they had not known when they were younger – had witnessed the killing and has now returned under a false name to avenge his brother's death. Charlotte finally realizes who he is and what he plans to do. Lucy is still under his influence and almost helps him kill Charlotte, but she manages to escape. Matt takes Lucy to the same spot in the bayou where they had put Jud's body and tries to drown her, but an unidentified hand from beneath drags him down into the bayou and he dies instead.

As the film ends, Charlotte finally is about to marry Cleve, but Lucy still suffers terrifying and violent visions of Matt.

Cast

 * Eric Stoltz as Matt Rutledge
 * Ben Cook as young Matt
 * Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lucy Bonnard
 * Ashley McMurray as young Lucy
 * Judith Ivey as Charlotte Bonnard
 * Dennis Lipscomb as Sheriff Cleve Doucet
 * Anne Pitoniak as Mrs. Bettlehelm
 * Benjamin Mouton as Etienne LeViolette
 * Casey Levron as young Etienne
 * Natalia Nogulich as Fran Steuben
 * Richard Minchenberg as Lenny Steuben
 * Bobby Pickett as Roger
 * Jason Saucier as Jud Nevins
 * Jerry Leggio as Mr. Bonnard
 * Fay Cohn as Mrs. Bonnard
 * Bill Condon as Priest

Home media
On January 16, 2001, the film was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment and again 10 years later by Image Entertainment.