With her justly acclaimed performance, Kidman maintains an emotional intensity that fuels the film's supernatural underpinnings. And while Amenabar's pacing is deliberately slow, it befits the tone of penetrating anxiety, leading to a twist that extends the story's reach from beyond the grave. Amenabar unveiled a similarly effective twist in his Spanish thriller Open Your Eyes (remade by Cameron Crowe as Vanilla Sky), but where that film drew debate, The Others is finely crafted to provoke well-earned goose bumps and chills down the spine. --Jeff Shannon

Description
Screen sensation Nicole Kidman (MOULIN ROUGE, EYES WIDE SHUT) delivers an utterly unforgettable performance in this scary and stylish suspense thriller. While awaiting her husband's return from war, Grace (Kidman) and her two young children live an unusually isolated existence behind the locked doors and drawn curtains of a secluded island mansion. Then, after three mysterious servants arrive and it becomes chillingly clear that there is far more to his house than can be seen, Grace finds herself in a harrying fight to save her children and keep her sanity. Acclaimed by critics everywhere, the unpredictable twists and turns of this compelling hit will keep you guessing as it keeps you riveted to the edge of your seat!

On another level, though, this movie will inspire a self examination of how one perceives realities. It does this by exposing the filters and assumptions that we all use when observing and mentally correlating those observations with our knowledge of fact into our realities. It also has an obvious message about coexistence and acceptance.

Regardless of whether or not one believes in the supernatural, the story and the ending will be completely unexpected for most who watch this movie. The many clues wrapped in foreshadowing and other plot devices will not make sense until the end, but if you carefully examine them a day or so after watching this movie you'll have some keen insights into your own unique set of filters and assumptions that you use daily.

There are other levels and messages within this movie that will surface days or weeks after watching it, such as the way the female characters are portrayed as more proactive, central figures than the male characters. The movie also challenges religious beliefs in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. I am not sure if this is yet another subtle layer of the plot or if it reflects the views and biases of the writers and director - but these elements are there.
If you enjoy great dialog and a masterful story with an interesting plot that is presented with beautiful visuals then you'll love this movie on an artistic level. If you enjoy mental challenges and subtlety that is presented with social and cogitative challenges you'll love this movie on a deeper level.


We Will Never Leave This House   February 25, 2003
 29 out of 31 found this review helpful

To a certain extent, one's enjoyment of THE OTHERS will depend on how quickly you recognize the major plot device on which the entire film turns. Once recognition sets in, how much you are able to further enjoy the film will then depend on how much you have become engaged by the characters--and it is here, really, that the film stumbles a bit, not so much through the way it is done but rather through the way the characters must be played in order for their behavior to make sense at the film's conclusion.

The premise, which seems deeply influenced by both Henry James' THE TURN OF THE SCREW and the 1960s film version known as THE INNOCENTS, concerns a woman who resides with her two children in an isloated mansion following World War II. Her situation is dire: her husband is missing in action and presumed dead; her children suffer from a rare genetic disease that makes sunlight dangerous to them; her servants have departed in the night without a word of warning. The latter problem seems remedied by the arrival of new servants--but no sooner are they installed than odd happenings begin to occur. Is the woman going mad? Are the servants involved? Have intruders secretly entered the house? Or could it be--something unearthly?

The cast is exceptionally good here, with Fionnula Flanagan as the newly arrived servant Mrs. Mills and children Alakina Mann and James Bentley giving remarkable performances. But the focus is on Nicole Kiddman as Grace, a role that Kiddman plays with a white-knuckled grip and considerable ferocity--so much so that it becomes extremely difficult to like, much less sympathize, with the character. In some respects, however, this is ultimately necessary for this extremely plot-driven film to have any significant impact, and in hindsight it is hard to imagine that the role could be played in any other way; still, hindsight does not allow you to engage fully with the character when you are in the midst of the film. It is a flaw, but it is an unavoidable one--and the film is so remarkably stylish that it largely overcomes both the anticipated plot-twist and Kiddman's necessarily ferocious performance.

The production values are first rate all the way down the line. Everything looks right, sounds right, feels right. But two items deserve special mention: the exceptional soundtrack, which was composed by director Alejandro Amenabar himself, and the stunning cinematography, which has tremendous visual texture and which neatly blends a fluidity of movement with a remarkably claustrophobic feel. If your tastes run to special effects and blood-spatter horror films, you are likely to disappointed, for there are none in THE OTHERS; Amenabar craftily creates tension more via what is suggested rather than shown, and doors left ajar and half-heard sounds are his devices of choice; it is all very subtle and yet remarkably chilling.

The DVD package is a double-disk set, with the film on one disk and bonuses on the other. Although the bonuses are often quite interesting--particularly a documentary on individuals who actually suffer from hyper-sensitively to sunlight--they actually contribute little to the film itself, and it is a bit surprising that such a small bonus package would require a second disk. The sound for the feature is also problematic re home viewing, and I recommend that viewers play it at top volume, for there is no middle ground--everything is very quiet or very loud, and the contrast adds tremendously to the film's effect.

It is extremely difficult to know how to rate this film, for as I've noted the very nature of the story has two embedded flaws: the almost inevitable recognition of the major plot device and the necessity of Kiddman's over-the-top performance. But even though I recognized the nature of the plot device very early in the film, and even though I found "Grace" an unlikeable woman, this did not actually prevent me from feeling the icy breath with which director Amenabar endows THE OTHERS. Torn between giving the film four stars and five, I err on the side of generosity; it is a classic-style ghost story, and I think most viewers will enjoy it. Reccommended.


THE OTHERS squeezed into top spot on a personal point   April 17, 2002
 23 out of 26 found this review helpful

why did I love this movie so much? Well, it basically contained all of the ideal elements working together to create a unique film with indelible atmosphere, believable performances, genuinely frightening undertones and an engaging mystery, that had me guessing all the way. Of course, the film's ending is what likely has people talking the most, but I was hooked pretty much the whole way through. From the awesome visuals, to the amazing performance by Nicole Kidman, to the creepy score, the believable kids, the genuinely engaging story-line, to the goosebumps that I got during several key scenes, I loved every aspect of this film, and its final denouement only concretized all of that for me.

I love movies like this because there's a sense of reality behind them, a believability factor with an actual capacity to tap into some of our most unknown fears. The truth about ghosts, the afterworld, haunted houses...are notions that none of us could pretend to factually know much about, but movies as such always seem to crack open the greater possibilities in our minds. Kudos to everyone involved in this amazing production for bringing a good ol' classic ghost story back to the big screen, along with a nifty little twist.


BOO!!!   January 4, 2003
 23 out of 24 found this review helpful

"The Others" is a cinematic rarity these days, a good, old fashioned, ghost story! In fact it's so old fashioned that some of the things you won't find in it are killer cyborgs, acid spewing aliens, or genetically engineered puking dog-thing snot-monsters! But don't worry, because what you will find is a superb story, a clutch of breathtaking performances, and a palpable sense of dread that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat `til the very end.

The story is set during the last years of WWII on an island off the British coast. On this island is a secluded, fog-bound mansion, inhabited by a single mother, who's husband went off to the war, and their two children who suffer from a strange condition, "Xeroderma Pigmentosum," which means they are hyper-sensitive to light. The mansion is permanently shrouded in fog outside, and permanently dark inside, as the heavy drapes in each window are kept permanently shut to protect the children. Any prolonged exposure to full sunlight will result in the children being subjected to blistering, 3rd degree burns, or even death.

The mother, Grace Stewart, a breathtaking performance by Nicole Kidman, is overly protective of the children, to say the very least. She frets and worries incessantly about their condition, and is compulsive in her checking of door-locks, and the security of the drapes over the windows. The children, Anne and Nicholas, luminously portrayed by Alakina Mann and James Bentley, live a stifling twilight existence within the walls of the mansion, dealing as best they can with their medical condition, and the suffocating love of their mother.

As we meet Grace for the first time, screaming herself awake from an unseen nightmare, we can see that she's under incredible pressure, and at the end of her rope. She's barely able to cope with the loss of her husband, the children's condition, and running the mansion single-handedly, the servants having deserted the family a week ago, without even collecting their last weeks pay! But help arrives in the nick-of-time, in the shape of 3 estate workers, a housekeeper, scullery maid, and gardener. Grace is initially suspicious of the 3 as she had yet to post a "Help Wanted" ad in the village shop. The housekeeper, Mrs Mills, wonderfully played by Fionnula Flanagan, explains that they used to work at the mansion in years gone by, and called on the off-chance of finding work, in doubtless trying times.

As if the initial set-up isn't bizarre enough, with the arrival of the new staff things start to get really strange; inexplicable noises, talk of ghosts, a photographic "Book of the Dead," musical instruments playing unaccompanied... and Mrs Mills knows far more than she's letting on, as do the scullery maid and the gardener!

I'm not going to say anything else about the film; I don't want to spoil it for you if you haven't seen it already, I'll just say that I'm not ashamed to say I did NOT guess the final twist in the tale! In fact, I actually saw the film twice when it was first released, because the cinema was evacuated about half way through when there was a tornado warning in the area; I couldn't wait to go back and see it again the next day!!!

Much has been said about Nicole Kidman's performance, and I have to say she is amazing! Highly-strung, brittle, compulsive, fiercely protective of her children...and her accent is wonderful! She drives the film relentlessly, along with the performances of Fionnula Flanagan, and the children; James Bentley, as Nicholas, in particular, gives an incredible, jaw-dropping performance. But it's the writing and directing of Alejandro Amenabar that is the secret of "The Others." The story is wonderful, and the direction exemplary; Amenabar builds the tension and sense of dread relentlessly, `til you don't think you can stand it any longer!

This is a 2-disc set, and the "extras" disc contains a couple of interesting items. There's the ubiquitous "making of" feature, and a documentary on a family who's children actually suffer from "Xeroderma Pigmentosum," the disease featured in "The Others." There's also an SFX feature... like I said, no killer cyborgs, snot monsters etc, what SFX?!?!?! I was certainly surprised by the explanation; this film just goes to show how subtle modern CGI effects can be.


Every second is interesting and important!   July 21, 2002
 20 out of 24 found this review helpful

Those Sixth sense fans have waited about 2 years for a similar movie and they've got their wish. One of my favourite movies of 2001, the Others is very interesting. It's a must-see. You won't be yawning as you watch it. This is definitely Nicole Kidman's best work yet. I didn't know she could act like this. It's a tense and a surprising story. It's not a complete copy of the sixth sense. It gives you a lot of detail and it has a fascinating plot. It's not a movie where you can easily guess what's happening. It's a great mystery that almost everyone would love. The chills and thrills it gives you makes it more suspenseful. It's some of 2001's best directed movies. It's a complete story (no major mistakes).

It revolves around Kidman whose husband is off at war and she has to live with her two kids who're allergic to sunlight. Three workers than come into the story as Kidman's daughter reveals that she's been talking to a somebody who's very different from them. Is that somebody alive or dead? As these thoughts are being concentrated around kidman's head she begins to explore the house to find things she never knew were in the house.

It's a great story. It has something for all those Sixth sense-The haunting lovers. I highly recommend it. It's a creative piece of work that pulls you towards the edge of your seat!