The Others (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
The Isle of Jersey, England, the end of WWII: Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) lives with her photosensitive children on a large, darkened estate in 'The Others', written & directed by Alejandro Amenabar. After her previous servants go missing, Grace accepts 3 new servants into her abode. But since they've entered, strange events have been occurring. Who are these people? Have they done something to Grace's house? Is it haunted? Is she just going insane? Or is something ELSE afoot? The script is not the greatest; nor is the pacing. But 'The Others' offers a portentous atmosphere, genuine scares, & a shocker of an ending.
Barely allowing her face to give way to a smile, Grace is bereft that her prior servants have disappeared. With no help, she reluctantly accepts Mrs. Mills, Lydia, & Mr. Tuttle (Fionnula Flanagan, Elaine Cassidy, Eric Sykes) into her cold mansion for work. Grace's 2 children, Anne & Nicholas (Alakina Mann, James Bentley) are not happy about this. But then, they have very little to be happy about; as their living situation is highly unordinary.
Afflicted with a deadly photosensitive allergy, the children must stay away from bright light. The heavy, dust-filled drapes must always be drawn. And every door must be kept locked; to ensure them not mistakenly exiting the house (without proper attire). Grace's husband is away at war; there's been no word of his status. Because of the children's illness, the house is quite the oppressive place. And Grace is becoming increasingly depressed, anxious, & worrisome. Things don't get any better once the children claim that they are seeing things. Odd things. Even people. Is the house haunted? If so, just who are the ghosts?
The atmosphere created in 'The Others' is so heavy that you can almost feel it. Using odd camera angles, mists, shadows, far-off screams, footsteps, and the like ... Amenabar & his team create a classic haunted house story; and without many special effects, no less. Something else that adds to the creepy factor is that every character in the film is just a little bit ... off. There's something 'not right' about all of them; a bit of inner madness going on. Slowly, the inner madness comes to the surface, & it all culminates in the (fairly unpredictable) climax. But one of the scariest, iconic moments from the film occurs far earlier than the climax. Grace approaches who she 'thinks' is her daughter; crouched on the floor, wearing a white veil. The girl responds, "Are you mad? I AM your daughter!"
Believe it or not, much of this film's success relies on Kidman's pitch-perfect performance as the morose, uptight Grace. Because she's constantly unsettled, intense & scared, so are we. Fionnula Flanagan is effective as the ambiguous Mrs. Mills. The balance btwn. the psychological aspects & the supernatural aspects of the film is aces. Overall, 'The Others' is a stylish, sophisticated ghost story. The plot is simple, secrets are unveiled deliberately & slowly (perhaps too slowly in segments), & it's always intriguing. This is a great spooky film to curl up with on a dark, chilly night. I say: check it out.
Barely allowing her face to give way to a smile, Grace is bereft that her prior servants have disappeared. With no help, she reluctantly accepts Mrs. Mills, Lydia, & Mr. Tuttle (Fionnula Flanagan, Elaine Cassidy, Eric Sykes) into her cold mansion for work. Grace's 2 children, Anne & Nicholas (Alakina Mann, James Bentley) are not happy about this. But then, they have very little to be happy about; as their living situation is highly unordinary.
Afflicted with a deadly photosensitive allergy, the children must stay away from bright light. The heavy, dust-filled drapes must always be drawn. And every door must be kept locked; to ensure them not mistakenly exiting the house (without proper attire). Grace's husband is away at war; there's been no word of his status. Because of the children's illness, the house is quite the oppressive place. And Grace is becoming increasingly depressed, anxious, & worrisome. Things don't get any better once the children claim that they are seeing things. Odd things. Even people. Is the house haunted? If so, just who are the ghosts?
The atmosphere created in 'The Others' is so heavy that you can almost feel it. Using odd camera angles, mists, shadows, far-off screams, footsteps, and the like ... Amenabar & his team create a classic haunted house story; and without many special effects, no less. Something else that adds to the creepy factor is that every character in the film is just a little bit ... off. There's something 'not right' about all of them; a bit of inner madness going on. Slowly, the inner madness comes to the surface, & it all culminates in the (fairly unpredictable) climax. But one of the scariest, iconic moments from the film occurs far earlier than the climax. Grace approaches who she 'thinks' is her daughter; crouched on the floor, wearing a white veil. The girl responds, "Are you mad? I AM your daughter!"
Believe it or not, much of this film's success relies on Kidman's pitch-perfect performance as the morose, uptight Grace. Because she's constantly unsettled, intense & scared, so are we. Fionnula Flanagan is effective as the ambiguous Mrs. Mills. The balance btwn. the psychological aspects & the supernatural aspects of the film is aces. Overall, 'The Others' is a stylish, sophisticated ghost story. The plot is simple, secrets are unveiled deliberately & slowly (perhaps too slowly in segments), & it's always intriguing. This is a great spooky film to curl up with on a dark, chilly night. I say: check it out.