it 's hard not to recommend " the others .
"
the supernatural thriller , written and directed by alejandro
amen ?
bar ( " open your eyes " ) , adroitly establishes and maintains a low - key atmosphere of menace .
the cinematography , by javier aguirresarobe , is as good as i have ever seen and nicole kidman gives another in her growing body of fine performances .
but the pacing of the story moves from deliberate to downright sluggish and the payoff of the tale left me less than satisfied .
overall , the film plays like a very high quality version of any number of old " twilight zone " episodes where the characters spend a great deal of time wandering about looking afraid and disoriented , only to learn they are actually a child 's toy , a military test subject or a department store dummy .
watching those vintage shows and listening to the players chatter , i always wanted to shout , " get on with it ! " as much as i appreciated the atmosphere and acting in " the others , " my reaction was much the same .
set at an island mansion off the coast of england during world war ii , the story focuses on grace ( kidman ) , who tends to her children anne ( alakina mann ) and nicholas ( james bentley ) and worries about her husband , charles ( christopher eccleston ) , a missing serviceman .
anne and nicholas suffer from photosensitivity and grace patrols the estate with the keys to all 50 doors , protecting the little ones from excess light by making sure that only one door is open at a time .
at the beginning of the film , three servants , mrs .
mills ( fionnula flanagan ) , young , mute lydia ( elaine cassidy ) , and mr .
tuttle ( eric sykes ) , an aging gardener , join the family .
the two that speak seem agreeable enough at first , but it soon becomes apparent that they know something that grace does not .
to make matters worse , the children are upset : nicholas is unusually jittery and anne claims to be seeing ghosts .
grace attempts to blame the troubles on the new arrivals to her home , only to realize that whatever is happening is beyond them .
that 's essentially the whole story , with the tension growing until the pivotal moment when everything becomes clear .
earlier , there is an outstanding scene where grace darts outside , only to be enveloped in fold after fold of shimmering fog .
the visuals in the otherworldly sequence , courtesy of aguirresarobe , are simply astounding .
i also enjoyed the presence of religion , a rarity in films dealing with the supernatural .
grace is a christian and answers her children 's questions about life and death with the assurance of a devout worshiper .
when mother is away , though , the kids speculate whether her statements are fact or folklore , just as real children do .
but those nice touches fail to enliven a film that is too slow or make up for a lackluster ending .
"
the others " sets out to be a classic ghost story , but fails to grasp that special something that makes such films more than layers of mist .
nice touches simply astounding growing body of fine performances an outstanding scene as good as i have ever seen