Who is Haunting Who?

Rating: Null/10 (29 September 2004)

In the beginning of the movie 'The Others,' Grace (Nicole Kidman) and her two children live a life of closed doors and dark rooms waiting for her husband to come home from war. Then, one day three strangers show up on Grace's doorstep looking for work. A few days after the strangers started working in the house, things start to happen that can't be explained. Grace finds herself trying to protect her family as well as trying to piece together the puzzle of the new staff working for her. The critical intention of director Javier Aguirresarobe is to make us think about everything that happens in the movie long after it is over. Javier wants the audience to put the pieces of the story together on their own. He made the audience think about the movie, so every time we watch it more and more of the story line becomes clear. Parts which seemingly had little significance in the beginning start to make sense. The critical technique in the film did exactly what it was suppose to. The camera angles did not reveal too much until it was important to the story line. The scream in the opening scene set the tone for the movie. I was curious to know what she was screaming about. The colors of the clothing, lighting, and outdoor scenes made me believe that the movie was really taking place in an old house during the 1940s.