Solid but predictable

Rating: 7/10 (20 August 2001)

Solid but predictable, especially if one has seen other recent ghost movies. The resolution left a number of loose ends which could have been more imaginatively brought together. The core of the film--the relationship between the living and the dead--could and should have produced something more than a not-very surprise ending. The historical background--the German occupation of the Channel Islands during WWII--was merely used as a prop, not at a part of the narrative. Similarly, the use of Catholic imagery and theology (which was often oddly misstated) seem to have little or no bearing on the story or its resolution. The Others has the ingredients of a classic, but fails to blend them into a satisfying whole.