Movie: The Others
Year: 2001
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston and Fionnula Flanagan

Snapshot of Story:
The story is about a mother with two young children who find their house haunted and is set in a mansion somewhere in England just after world war two.

Theme of Story:
Nicole Kidman plays Grace Stewart the mother of two children who live in a mansion with her husband who had abandoned them following the war. She gives a captivating performance and brings the entire movie to life. Her anguish with her current situation and her overbearing protectionism of the children are very well portrayed.

Grace brings in some house workers to look after the children and the house. One notable feature of the movie is where Grace insists that all doors behind them must be locked at all times and blinds drawn to prevent the children from being harmed by the outdoor light. Through the movie we see indications of bizarre happenings around the house including the nanny Mrs. Bertha Mils that keeps the viewers in suspense. The relationship between Grace and the nanny becomes more troublesome as Grace is not able to maintain the stable livelihood around the house. When Grace’s husband appears from nowhere we are left wandering what the whole situation was about and what it was in the past that caused them to separate. All this culminates in a very interesting twist at the end.

Conclusion:
The movie has been very well made portraying a remote house in the middle of nowhere with an overcast weather that adds to it’s isolation. This gives the entire household more of a presence and a stage that allows the telling of this haunting story.

Rating:
7/10