Starring: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston
Director: Alejandro Amenabar
Rated: MA15+
THE Others was the last film Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman made before their marriage broke down. She stars, he produces.
Grace (Kidman) is a devout Catholic who lives in a large home on Jersey. It’s 1945, the war is over, but Grace watches and waits for her husband, Charles, to return from the battle. He is listed as missing in action.
Three Irish servants turn up to help her run the manor house. Grace’s children, Nicholas (James Bentley) and Anna (Alakina Mann) are allergic to sunlight. Anna sees ghosts. Charles returns and disappears again. It all comes to a head when Grace starts to see the ghosts too.
If you like haunted house stories then The Others is for you. It is masterfully shot, magnificently edited, has a fine sound design, great sets which are meticulously decorated, and the multi-talented Alejandro Amenabar writes, directs and composes a suitably eerie score.
What marks this film out from its peers is the strong Spanish influence in the story and the look of the film. It drips Catholicism, and not always kindly.
The acting is first rate with Kidman appearing in nearly every scene, realising a very physical performance, weeping constantly and being especially breathy in her delivery. The child actors are particularly good.
