The Others

Rating:
Summary: Flawless
Review: This is a great film for many reasons, and most of all for the trio of mother and children. Nicole Kidman and the two child actors are perfect and totally believable in their period roles. This has to be Nicole Kidman's best performance ever. The actors playing the servants were excellent too.

The writing of the relationship between the three is brilliant too, I havent seen a better potrayal of mother and children in any film.

Normally I'm irritated by dark and gloomy interiors in films, but here the atmosphere was just right. The film reminds me of old ghost-story books I read in school (long ago), and also of The Turn of The Screw. The mood is so different from The Sixth Sense that I did not notice any similarity while watching.

Rating:
Summary: Spooky
Review: THE OTHERS is a great, spooky film. It does not try to be a slasher/scary film. Instead, it is a classic (and classy) "haunted house" movie. THE OTHERS does more scaring with sound and implied camera angles than a slasher flick will ever do. Its haunted house atmosphere (fog, creaky floors, old rooms) is spooky. One effective scene involves a glowing, ghostly face that ends up being a painting.

The tone is set right away. Nicole Kidman's character, Grace, shows the new servants around the house. There are some weird house rules! Every door must be closed and locked before the next one is opened. The curtains must be drawn at all times. Her children are photosensitive, you see, and could erupt in sores and smother to death if exposed to daylight. Weird. Kidman plays all her scenes with a wide-eyed neurotic energy - Grace is on the edge! One wonders how Kidman the actress sustained this type of frenetic energy over the course of the shoot? She's really good here.

THE OTHERS telegraphs its ending by dropping some clues along the way. I had it figured out. The execution of the revealing scene is very good, though, and still manages to surprise you.

I jumped out of my couch several times. The sound design is particularly good -- there's one scene where the thud-thud-thud of a "ghost" upstairs will shake you out of your chair!

Boo!

Rating:
Summary: Freaky Twice at Most!
Review: "The Other's" came out in 2001 and has been by far a scary movie if you see it two times at the most. Nicole Kidman is a mother of two who lives in a large home in New England. The hous becomes haunted once the "home workers" come to work with the home. After many haunts through the few days...Nicole Kidman comes across a book..."The Book of the Dead". It's contents are pictures of those dead and are in the book to help them in the afterlife. Nicole Kidman is suspicious when the mail with the ad for home maitainance had never been delivered but the workers were there...in the room where they stayed, there was a pcture of three dead people. The picture was the three workers.....they explain that Nicole Kidman and their family are.....dead.............find out more with "The Others"!

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Movie By Far...In A Class Of It's Own
Review: Don't miss this jem of a movie if you are intelligent and want some food for thought!! You may think that this is a typical ghost-type story as you begin to watch, but think again. Don't expect to be terrorized, and don't expect blood and gore, or even slash and bash..but do expect to be challenged mentally. Nicole Kidman plays the mother of two children who are photo-sensitive and must be perpetually in the dark, and her character is very prone to migraines. They are supposedly waiting for the father to return from the war. You know as the movie progresses that things are not as they seem, but you WILL be surprised at the end of the movie. This movie is not at all predictable. Nicole's character is very committed to her religion, and if you listen carefully, a lot of beliefs are called into question. What is the truth about life and death? And do we really know much of anything? At the end of the movie, Nicole admits to her children that she doesn't know anything and says "I'm no wiser than you are". Each and every character is marvelous, especially the one who plays Ann, a sassy little girl with a mind of her own. The one who plays Mrs.Mills is just about as wonderful a character as you could imagine, such a kindly and honest woman with great strength. Nicholas is a boy in denial about what has happened to him because of his great love for his mother. And Nicole's character is played to perfection. I just have to say I loved this movie and have watched it over and over. It has really made me think.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely well-acted movie but...
Review: THIS MOVIE MAKES NO SENSE!!!

ending spoiler warning!

In the ending, it reveals that Nicole Kidman's character suffered nervous breakdown since her husband left home for war, accidently killed her kids during their sleep, and then shot herself... despite the mirror scenes that reflected Nicole Kidman's character and the closed door that was wide (or nearly) open! And what else!? a scene where she and her daughter talked about a Nicholas situation w/ a crying voice is where you look closely Kidman is reflected at the wide stony glass above the fireplace! How could they be dead if she was reflected by mirrors!? This movie doesn't want to thrill you into chills, but wants you to feel impressed by the ending despite the faulty scenes I told you about! What an unforgivable mistake!

Acting: 4 1/2 out of 5. Plot: 1 OUT OF 5!! Overall: 2/5 b/c of outstanding talents from actors, in my humble opinion

Rating:
Summary: Stick with me
Review: In my opinion "The others" is the apotheosis of thrillers. I don't understand why people say it's a bad, boring and predictable movie, when it's clearly not. I'll make a little list of what thriller movies supposedly should have, and then I'll contradict the major complaints about this movie. Let's see:

1) Haunted house - all good thrillers should have a closed environment, or induce a claustrophobic feeling in the viewers. "The others" have, and "The others" do. This movie's location is a mansion in a british island, always surrounded by a gray, wet, spooky mist. And the fact that all courtains have to be closed at all times gives the plot this dark and claustrophobic aura. Perfect.
2) Spooky characters - The servants and the husband who's back from the war display no emotion at all, and leave the viewer with a feeling that they know a lot more than what they disclose to the main characters.
3) Strange children - Two children who are fotosensitive and who cannot leave their house. On top of that, they start to "receive" the visite of another, invisible child.
4) A beautiful woman - Hitchock always cast a beautiful woman on his films. It grips the attention, at least of the masculine part of the audience. In fact, Nicole Kidman, as the mother of the children and lady of the house, looks so much like Grace Kelly that I can only see it as a homage to the great master of suspense. She's incredibly beautiful, and very talented as well, as the paranoid mom and harsh mistress of her servants.
5) Pianos, paintings and furniture - The classic scenes where the piano plays by itself, spooky paintings and manequins, furniture changing places and the dreary curtains.

There's more, but I think it's enough. Now on to the list of complaints.

A) "The plot is dull and boring". - If you wanted to get spooked every 30 seconds, then go to a Virginia forest alone without an electric light at one in the morning. "The others" provides few junp scenes, but when they come they are good. And if you can't enjoy the plot of a movie as a means to create an atmosphere, than go watch Freddy Kruger, Jason - Friday 13, etc.
B) "The children and the mother are annoying" - Of course they are. They're children. And the mom's a total paranoia freak. She lost her husband in the war. Her house is haunted. Her children are sick. She couldn't be smiling and picking flowers in the garden all the time.
C) "I could see the final twist coming from a mile away" - No you couldn't. If ten people say that, eight are lying. They just want to be cool. The final twist is very good and the whole movie builds greatly up to these final moments.
D) "The sixth sense is much better" - Why? What is so different about these two movies? Pay close attention. In "The sixth sense" there are very few jumps scenes also, and the whole movie is very slow too, not to mention other similarities.

So, "The others" has everything a good thriller should have, and add to that the competent direction of Alejandro Amenabar and the always imposing presence of Nicole Kidman. A very effective movie, that won't easily be away from your mind once you see it. In fact, just to raise all this discussion already is proof of a good production.

Grade 9.2/10

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: This was a great movie, it kept me on the edge of my seat. Nicole Kidman's performance was excellent. The information on the second cd was interesting. The only problem was once you've seen it, you know the story. So it is no longer scary.

Rating:
Summary: Les autres
Review: The story is good, and it's like The sixth sence, but not as good.
the actor act well. the story is complicated but easy to understand.
You never get bored and sometimes it's amaze.
So I suggest you to buy it.

Rating:
Summary: OK PEOPLE
Review: the others is a good movie and it has good atmosphere and nicole kidman is a good actress but why the hec would u giv this movie 5 stars and call it a masterpiece? the ENDING WASNT SHOCKING AT ALL. it wasnt SCARY BY FAR. i was left disapointed slightly at the end i said thats it? WOW BIG DEAL - (( THE OTHERS)) WERE THEM. oh come on - it wasnt good - the ending that -is -u people make it seem like it was some sort of revelation. and a masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: A GREAT Thriller that Keeps You Guessing Till the End!!!
Review: "The Others" is one of the best thriller films I have seen in a long time. It is about a young mother named Grace, whose husband has gone off to war, and she is stuck in her huge, old mansion with her two light-sensitive children. In fact, they are SO sensitive to light, that all the curtians and doors must always be shut and locked for if not, the children will break out in boils on their skin and eventually, their throughts will close up and they will sufficate. And since Grace is the only adult in her home, she puts out an ad for some hired help. The 2 women and 1 man that show up are a little odd, and...well, you'll understand once you see it about 2 times. This movie is excellent, but you have to pay REAL close attention come the middle of the film, or you won't understand the REAL thrill of the movie. The Others is great!!!