Review: The Others (2001)

This is a Resurfaced review written in 2002 or earlier. For more information, please visit this link: Resurfaced Reviews.

The Others

Rating

Director

Alejandro Amenábar

Screenplay

Alejandro Amenábar

Length

1h 41m

Starring

Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Alakina Mann, James Bentley, Eric Sykes, Elaine Cassidy

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Buy/Rent Movie

Review

Many films have toyed with the idea of psychological torture and very few have actually managed to carry it out. “The Others” joins a short list of such films that range from “Gaslight” to “The Manchurian Candidate.”

An island in the English Channel is the home of a beautiful older home where a young mother lives with her two light-allergic children. Grace (Nicole Kidman) must take great care not to expose them to light or they will break out in sores and possibly die. She makes sure that every door is locked and all curtains drawn.

These are the instructions passed along to three wayward servants arrive mysteriously not long after Grace’s previous employees fled. These servants, led by Mrs. Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), seem rather experienced and turn out to have previously worked at the mansion several years prior. The others are Lydia (Elaine Cassidy), a dedicated mute who knows far more than she can say, and Mr. Tuttle (Eric Sykes), the fatherly old gardener with a secret of his own.

Grace is a very Christian woman who teaches Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley) to live by the bible and refuses to accept when Anne says there are people living in the house, but not ghosts as they wear sheets and chains. When the house awakens with hollow piano notes echoing through the empty halls and heavy footsteps cascading off lonesome walls, the idea of a haunted house doesn’t become so unusual.

“The Others” is the fantastic English-language debut for Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar. The film is suspenseful canvas stretched taught across an entertaining frame. Kidman paints the vivid portrait of a woman terrified by things unknown. She’s a panic-stricken mother who desperately wants to protect her children. Even through her mounting madness, she never loses sight of her true goals.

Flanagan is terrific as the calm, stern English housekeeper with a penchant for secrets. She and Kidman play terrific counterpart, one sensible, one hysterical. Mann and Bentley each display talents that not many of their age can muster. Much of the credit for younger performances is heaped on the director and in this case, I’m sure he had a hand in molding their talents. Even Sykes and Cassidy due their part in completing an excellent ensemble.

Not only is the acting above par, the suspense itself is mind-boggling. The slow pace helps keep the audience in suspense and even though much of the action is pitted against things that aren’t there, you still feel every bump in the road. Much of this can be credited to Kidman’s ultimately believable performance, but much of it is thanks to a terrific director, editor and composer whose combined talents make “The Others” one of the year’s best films and one to add to the ranks of great psychological thrillers.

“The Others” feels like a cross between “Gaslight,” the story of a husband who tries to drive his wife mad and “The Shining” about a haunted hotel high in the Colorado Rockies. There are elements popularized in both films that make this a true modern suspense classic.

On top of it all, the film holds a surprise ending that’s sure to rival “The Crying Game” and “The Sixth Sense” in the ferocity of its viewers trying to keep it that way. “The Others” is certain to be one of the year’s biggest successes and Oscar can’t help but look kindly on it and perhaps even heap it with some honors.

Awards Prospects

It’s going to be tough for the Academy to decide which role to nominate Kidman for. Both this performance and her performance in “Moulin Rouge” are Oscar-calibre and while support for “Moulin” is growing, this is inherently her better performance. Ultimately, the film has only chances. It has chances at Picture, Actress: Nicole Kidman, Supporting Actress: Fionnula Flanagan, Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Sound, Sound Effects Editing and Original Score. None of these are sure things, not even for wins.