The Others Movie Review

The Others (2001)

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Written by: Alejandro Amenábar
Directed by: Alejandro Amenábar
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
In 1945, immediately following the end of World War II, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted. 

Verdict
Grace is certain ghosts aren't real, but persistent events in her house force her to consider the possibility. From the beginning the audience questions whether she's a reliable narrator. Is this house haunted or is she imagining it? This eschews extensive effects and relies on an old house with lots of character. The plot is too tame for most of the movie as I kept waiting for it to take the next step. What makes this movie memorable is the ending and the reveal of what's happening. While this ends well, it doesn't quite make up for the rest of the movie.
It depends.

Review
Set in 1945, Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) looks to hire staff to keep her house. She has a lot of rules, and that in part seems to be due to her children's sensitivity to light. That means the house is always dark; they don't even have electricity. One door must be shut before opening the door to the next room to control the light. She hires three staff members that have worked together before, but I'm surprised they agree to this offer.

Nicole Kidman plays Grace Stewart

While Grace dismisses her daughter's claims of hearing voices from a boy named Victor, Grace begins to hear them herself. She later finds the doors open. She blames the staff, but it doesn't seem like they had anything to do with it. The house seems to be haunted. Being religious, Grace doesn't want to accept that fact but, this is forcing her to break her own house rules. She's not shutting doors and letting light intrude as her fears build.

Nicole Kidman plays Grace Stewart

Grace seems rather controlling. While it may just be her devotion to her kids and keeping them safe, she may have taken it too far. While she stated her children are sensitive to light, they don't seem to have the same fear which makes you wonder. Has she taken her devotion to the children to an unhealthy level? Is Grace an unreliable narrator? Could she be seeing things? But that wouldn't explain her children's experiences. The children make their own discoveries about the house and the staff.

When she finally can't deny the house is haunted, that's when it seems the staff knows more than they're telling her. Just when we think we know what's happening, we discover that's just the start. What makes this movie so memorable is the conclusion.