Nicole Kidman is having a good year

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2001)

The Others is a scary and well-executed ghost story with a great script and excellent acting. It seems that Nicole Kidman is having a great year movie-wise despite the split-up with tom cruise, putting in her best performance to date (in my opinion) in this movie. The character of Grace is complex and of a nature not often seen in movies. She is elegant yet near-hysterical at times, with a hint of mystery about her that suggests she is not what she seems, which of course she isn't. The brilliant twist at the end (which works a lot better than that of The Sixth Sense) would probably lead people to hate Grace if she wasn't played with the skill that Kidman uses. She carries the movie and gives her character the extra layer of emotion that cannot be written in words and is the resposibility of the actor. The film has some very scary moments. Though it is slow to start, the movie would not have worked at all with the fast pace of most horror movies which takes away all scariness. The Others becomes downright creepy at times (ie the part with the old lady with the girl's voice, and when the servants are standing at the door to the house after the first twist) and the scary parts only come when they are needed to advance the story. Fionulla Flannigan makes a great semi-sinister nanny, with just the right amount of menace mixed in with friendly motherly qualities.
The children give very apt performances, particularly the girl, although the boy is occasionally grating. The Others does have a few humorous moments. One part in which the little girl informs her mother that only children who haven't been baptised can go to limbo, is quite funny and the expression on Kidman's face is classic, as she displays the comic ability and timing that was ever-present in To Die For. Overall, The Others is definitely worth watching (a few times even) and contains some scary moments that actually make a lot of people in the audience scream aloud, and top-class performances. I really think Kidman will get an oscar nomination for this, and Flannigan has a chance as supporting actress. The photography was brilliant too and sacrifices flashy visuals for moody shots and ambience.