Disappointing

Rating: Null/10 (29 January 2004)

I was looking forward to watching THE OTHERS because I love good ghost films. However, by the end of it I was disappointed. The screenplay didn't quite develop some of the best ideas in the story.
**** SPOILERS ****
For instance, the "what happened that night" part should have been introduced more forcibly earlier on in the film. The problem for me was that as soon as I saw Christopher Eccleston (Kidman's husband in the movie) appear out of nowhere in the fog, the twist became pretty clear to me. Also, the servants' clothes gave them away as ghosts (too old-fashioned). Having seen The Sixth Sense, I just knew that if the husband and the servants were ghosts, then Kidman and the kids must be ghosts too. I quite enjoyed the ending but it wasn't half as scary as the ending of The Sixth Sense. I know it's not fair to compare films in this way, but I can't help but do it in this case, simply because they are based on the same premise and quite frankly, The Others jumped on the bandwagon in that sense.
As far as Kidman's much-performance is concerned, I thought she was good but not impressive. I would have preferred someone with a face that said more than their whispers. I found her a bit hysterical.
Overall, I would give this film 6/10 for trying hard and for generating a good atmosphere.