Volume CXXXIII, Number 1 September 7, 2001 f

The Others: a spooky, suspenseful delight
MONICA GUZMAN
Staff Writer

Talk about freaky.

Three new servants join a lonely woman (Nicole Kidman) and her two photophobic children in their isolated Victorian mansion. Soon after, ghostly intruders begin terrorizing the household, and the mysteries ripen to a juicy plumpness. Finally, a shocking conclusion throws the film into a whole new light.

This film makes the viewer want to stay quietly slumped in his movie seat for as long as possible in order to catch the next showing, even if it means avoiding the awkward glances coming from that uniformed guy sweeping the popcorn off the floor.

This is terror that is terribly good. This is The Others.

It's the kind of movie that makes me shed tears of pride for the industry. It makes me temporarily forgot about the money-sucking crap it has been spitting out for most of the summer-crap that I've sat through only because I got to see it for free (I worked at a movie theater…good times). I came out of The Others with a smile on my face that could not be wiped off even by the sight of the frizzy, dyed red mullet on a guy walking alongside me.

At random times during the day, I would even suddenly look up excitedly and announce that I had discovered something cool about the movie (while people around me probably wondered what I was on). However, I can't tell you what any of those findings are! I can't spoil! No… must… resist… the temptation….
Anyway, Kidman was fabulously convincing as the edgy, disheveled Grace. This role brought out a never-before-seen brilliance in her acting. All soda-slurping eyes were set on her as she lead the new servants through the house, almost killed her own child, and slowly sank into madness. [Gossipy tidbit: Tom Cruise is this film's producer. That must have been an awkward premiere….]

Oh, and Haley Joel Osment had better watch his back. Anakila Mann, who plays Kidman's daughter, is a rising starlet (and she's got a cuter name…). Her portrayal of Grace's stubborn daughter reminds me all too well of the too clever for her age little girl I used to baby-sit. A performance powerful enough to bring back that long suppressed memory must be good. Really good.
Director Alejandro Amenabar's influence is strewn throughout the film. Watch for the play with shadows and the way he handles the darkness that the story requires. The cinematography is truly breathtaking, a difficult feat considering that the film takes place only in and immediately around the house.

The Others is the psychological thriller at its best. If you liked Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, or Scary Movie (that last one was a sick joke--shame on you if you didn't catch it), you'll love this film. Go see it.