The Others

Review - Written and directed by Alejandro Amenabar and somewhat produced by Tom Cruise, The Others is a dark and rich ghost story.  Relying heavily on innuendo and whispers, The Others avoids graphic detail and gore completely.  The Others simply replaces it with a closing door; to a chilling effectiveness.

Nicole Kidman plays a strained mother of two on Jersey Island in 1945; the reluctant and strong master of her home.  Kidman explains that her children suffer from a rare form of photosynthesis. Consequently, her children cannot be exposed to sunlight without breaking into sores.  All the curtains must be drawn closed, travel only by lamplight, and no two doors may be opened at the same time. These early rules set the tone for the films eeriness and it is stifling, claustrophobic, and extremely effective.

This has to be Kidman's best performance; ever.  She is rigid and stoic.  A defined paragon (I'd call her a bitch) of the time.  Her children played by Alakina Mann and James Bentley offers both ends of the dubious and frightened child spectrum effectively.

What you've got in The Others is a bona-fide ghost story.  Slow and deliberate, it moves along as patient as Death whose found a few minutes to taunt you, before he punches your ticket.

-m-