The Others (2001)

4 stars

Nicole Kidman is so inhumanly beautiful in this that she's almost scary for that alone. This reminded me so much of The Innocents, down to the final twist. Overall I felt truly scared several times, but the speech Kidman gives to her children about purgatory close to the beginning, I felt, basically revealed the plot twist that they were dead and living in a kind of purgatory the whole time.

I don't think the film set up Kidman's character to be quite as unhinged and evil enough to murder her own children. I also thought that twist was too similar to The Innocents. The children (supposedly) have a rare and deadly disorder - surely they could have both died of that and the rest of the plot remained the same, and perhaps more original/convincing. She was unhinged and controlling, but not quite evil enough to convince me of being capable of double homicide of her own kids.

I liked the detail that the servants clothes were simply yet distinctly Victorian in comparison to the mother and children's 40's clothes.

I loved the fact that the father who died on the front lines in WWII made an appearance to say goodbye to his wife and children. I think that addition brought a level of mystery yet clarity to the movie.

The acting in particular was just so superb. imbD trivia stated that the search for the child actors was extensive, particularly for the daughter who had to hold her own against Nicole Kidman at the height of her career. Well, it paid off. Talented child actors are so rare and impressive. Fionnula was also a treat, fantastically striking the balance between having a kindly smile but dead behind the eyes.

Overall quite a fantastic ghost horror, with the exception of Kidman's confession speech - after so much intense buildup, I didn't think that scene hit quite as hard as it intended to.