A film that entices our interest in ghost stories.

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2005)

I watched this movie for the second time on British TV last night and enjoyed it immensely - isn't hindsight a great thing? When I saw it originally, Nicole Kidman was in Moulon Rouge around on DVD at the same time so it was interesting to see just how very different the two roles were. As Grace in THE OTHERS she plays the proverbial, religious up tight woman who is clearly suffering from mental illness due to the absence of her husband who has not returned from the war. It's '1945 so where is he?Jersey was occupied by the Nazis for some five years , well of course he died . AS the film moves along very slowly and Grace becomes more and more highly strung by the 'supernatural happenings'she rejects, it is clear to the viewer that all is not what we are meant to believe and it is true that if you are familiar with Amenabar's work, you will start to figure out where the film is heading but not how, however I don't believe all those who said they guessed the ending in the first half hour because the action and the plot is handled too well. To keep comparing it to the Sixth Sense is a spoiler in itself and unfair to audiences who have not seen the movie. For those who could not understand why the husband returned only to go away again think I have grasped it. He returned in the fog looking suitably haunted, he is already dead but as a ghost has come back to the house to confront Grace as to why she killed his children. I think we have to assume that she has not been a ghost that long when he returned or indeed when the film starts and that the main reason for her despair was the loss of her husband, she probably killed the children towards the end of the WW11 and killed herself when she realised he would not return. He had to leave her because he did not die there with her but in the War somewhere else, and therefore returned probably only in her imagination. Her existence as a ghost who cannot rest is guilt driven by the violence of her own death and that is why we are seeing her(not realising at the time that she is a ghost),as a mirror image and she is a dysfunctional, not very kind woman driven so strongly by religion and by a sort of paranoid protectiveness towards her two children who are both excellent in their roles. Other viewers may interpret this aspect of the film differently but I think it does answer the plothole regarding Christopher Eccleston's character.
THE OTHERS is a highly enjoyable, extremely watchable old fashioned ghost story that is reminiscent of what is best from the genre - no swearing, no violence and no blood. It is a well told and well directed movie which will keep those who have not seen it guessing until the end, and it is explained at the end which often fails with other films of its type. Kidman surpasses herself and Amenabar should be proud of such a absorbing piece of work.