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Thread of Lies is a drama movie that revolves around the story of a family whose daily life is a struggle to make ends meet. The family whom after the father died of accident, their mother was left trying to tide-over her two daughters of their daily needs. Until one day, Cheon-ji, the younger of the two daughters took her own life. Left without any suicide note, the mother and Man-ji, the elder sister were trapped in confusion and suspicion on the reasons why Cheon-ji committed suicide. In their quest to find out the reasons, they were able to unearth the balls of yarns that had woven the picture of Cheon-ji’s state of depression due to bullying and isolation before the day of her death.
The movie mirrors the ways of life that Korean poor families have which are seen in relationships, language, food, and even in the positions of a family around the table during meals. In terms of food, poor Korean families consider eating meat as too pricy. Like Cheon-ji’s family, they rarely eat meat as they are saving for their monthly rent and daily needs. Noodles seemed to be the most accessible and affordable for them. However, it also showed that despite the financial state of a family, they have to prepare a good meal for their guests.
Some scenes reflect the patriarchal system which has already rooted in the Korean society. One of the scenes was when the father of another two siblings in the movie arrived in their house; his eldest daughter has already cooked food for him. The daughter served it on the table before she and her younger sister, Mira went to their room to let their father eat. Their father is a lazy old man who does not care whether his children are going to school or not. He only cares for things that please him like dating the mother of Cheon-ji. Despite his attitude, his daughters still serve him food and cannot spill ill words in front of him. On the other hand, the movie reflects the family roles like the role of the elder sibling to care and protect his or her younger sibling. This was reflected in the relationship of Cheon-ji and her elder sister Man-ji and that of Mira and her elder sister. After the death of Cheon-ji, Man-ji realized how neglectful she was for her younger sister. She felt guilty that during the time that Cheon-ji needed her the most, she just ignored her. The elder sister of Mira on the other hand took responsibility of caring and protecting Mira after their mother died. When Mira was linked to the reasons for Cheon-ji’s suicide, her elder sister protected her from the anger of Man-ji.
Moreover, Cheon-ji’s mother was in deep agony after her death however, she tried to be strong enough for her and Man-ji to survive. She defied some of their cultural beliefs in order to provide food for the two of them. She resumed to work right after the burial of Cheon-ji which is a taboo in the Korean culture. Also, in order to remain healthy for her work, she ate more than a grieving mother can eat. But her defiance to cultural beliefs does not mean that she was not grieving for her baby’s death. She just cannot afford to grieve properly or else, they will have nothing to eat the following day.
Further, the movie shows that Koreans are fond of Karaoke. Students, young professionals and even the elderly celebrate or kill time in a Karaoke bar. In the movie, it is the favourite past time of groups of students.
Overall, Thread of Lies does not only reflect real life family drama in the Korean setting but of families around the world. There may be countless differences in terms of culture and tradition but the daily life struggles of Cheon-ji, Man-ji and their mother reflects the daily battles of people in the lower social stratification globally.
