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Alejandro Amenábar's new film, The Others, begins with a scream and ends with the best goosebump-inducing finale since The Sixth Sense. The shriek comes from Grace (Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge), the mother of two children living on a giant, fog-shrouded estate on the Isle of Jersey, just off the coast of England. The year is 1945, and although World War II has ended, Grace's husband Charles (Christopher Eccleston, Gone in 60 Seconds) hasn't returned home, or even sent word regarding his whereabouts.
A missing husband is one thing, but migraine-prone Grace has plenty of other things to worry about. Her two kids, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley), are both allergic to sunlight, and the small group of servants that used to tend to the house have all mysteriously vanished. It's no surprise the children make references to a recent nervous breakdown suffered by their mother. You try living in a house with no electricity, no radio and no phone, with sickly kids and each passing day reducing the odds that your spouse is still alive.
After placing an ad for new help, Grace takes on a group of three servants - Mrs. Mills (Fionnula Flanagan, Waking Ned Devine), Mr. Tuttle (Eric Sykes) and the mute Lydia (Elaine Cassidy, Felicia's Journey) - nd instructs them about the importance of locking every door in the house. "No door is to be opened before the previous one is closed," Grace tells them, explaining that the beams of sunlight must be contained to protect her children (like sunlight could possibly make its way through the thick, choking fog.)
Then the typical horror-movie stuff starts - footsteps, voices and the like. Anne even swears she's seen other people in the house, but the deeply religious Grace doesn't believe any of it, pointing an accusatory finger at Mrs. Mills and her sidekicks, thinking they're trying to run her and her children out of the mansion. In a way, The Others is a little like The Shining, with a family of three trying to contend with complete isolation and each other. But, as we learn time and time again, things are never what they seem in the movies. There are enough red herrings in The Others to keep you guessing until the very end.
Mad props must be given to Amenábar (Open Your Eyes), who, in his English-language debut, serves as writer, director and even provides some creepy music, to boot (he also scored The Butterfly, which was directed by Others producer José Luis Cuerda). Amenábar's manipulation of light (or, more precisely, the lack thereof) is nothing short of genius, as demonstrated in the film's opening credits. He uses the darkness to make you feel claustrophobic, and with the deliberately slow, tension-building pace, you begin to grow accustomed to the shadows, just like Grace. You don't realize how enveloping it is until a curtain is thrown back, revealing colors previously blanketed by the gloom. This is practically a black-and-white film; it legitimately looks 40 or 50 years old.
Adding to the aged feel of The Others is Kidman, who may give her greatest performance here (it's easily her best since To Die For). She's doing her finest Grace Kelly impression, and she does it wonderfully. The Others, which was produced by Kidman's soon-to-be-ex-hubby Tom Cruise (the star of Cameron Crowe's American adaptation of Amenábar's Open Your Eyes), would have been the perfect Halloween flick, but, unfortunately, must cut a wide path around hokey monster movies like the remake of William Castle's 13 Ghosts as well as teen slasher flicks like Jeepers Creepers and the new Halloween installment. This isn't the kind of thing you want to see in a big, heartless chain theatre, where the barely audible whispering on screen will be lost in the stadium seating and cup holders. It's an arthouse summer popcorn flick that will have the misfortune of landing in megaplexes.
1:40 - PG-13 for thematic elements and frightening moments
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