A mother and two children are living alone in a large Jersey house. Things seem a little strange. Very well crafted, moody haunted house thriller.

Rating: Null/10 (12 November 2001)

Who hasn't known ghosts? I grew up listening to a man breathing in various cupboards around my house as I went to sleep. Both my mother and I heard him clearly. We didn't consider him malevolent, he was just there.
My wife and I have heard a very unhappy, spectral woman, in broad daylight, weeping loudly in a corridor of our former house, repeatedly, over two days.

I certainly believe in ghosts! And I'm not particularly psychic. I've also known of a tall old cupboard that independently spooked certain guests to the house we were living in at the time. They'd back out of the room, uneasily. I'm sure that many of you can tell similar stories.
The Others is a very neatly made, subtle, measured, haunted house thriller starring Nicole Kidman.
It doesn't rely on digital effects to scare or unsettle the viewer, rather putting emphasis on strangeness. The early cues are auditory. We know we're in ghost territory when those violins start screeching in that time honoured spooky way.
There aren't many sudden bangs or shakes in this strange house, not extravagantly anyway, but we're led to expect that something nasty and frightening will happen. That's understood, hinted by the mood of this beautifully crafted film.
Nicole Kidman plays Grace, an overly protective mother looking after her children Anne and Nicholas in a large rural house on the island of Jersey just after WW2.
She's waiting for her husband to come home from the war. The children are apparently photosensitive and can't be allowed to come into contact with sunlight so all of the curtains are closed in the house and the doors are sequentially locked as Grace, the children and the staff move through the house.
The staff headed by Mrs Mills (fine Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan) get about their business within the rules set by their mistress.
Writer/director, Chilean born, Spain based, Alejandro Amenabar has created a moody, thriller. He also composed the music.
Nicole Kidman gives a fine performance again emphasising her superior acting skills. Grace is forceful but fraught, elegant but severe.
The tension rises. Fifty women screamed together while I was in the cinema. I jumped. I might have screamed too.
4 Grey Flys Out Of Five