Memorable, crazy movie

Better Late Then Never

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Hadn't seen this in years and enjoyed it almost as much in my rewatch. I will say though that knowing the outcome changed the fear factor a bit, almost like watching a different movie in that respect. Its set on the Channel Islands in 1945, a ghost story that deals with Nicole Kidman as a troubled young mother, awaiting the return of her long missing husband from the war. Her two children have a rare photosensitivity disease which means they cannot be touched by direct sunlight, her daughter claims to see ghosts. The mother hires servants to help in her spooky mansion, she thinks they are playing tricks but their arrival changes everything. I still struggled with the scene with the husband, even "knowing" it felt awkward and just strange and Nicole does wear on you after a while with her dramatics. Great movie though, scary, atmospheric, stylish with a slowly unraveling plot. I enjoyed the mystery

'The Others (2001)' is an old-fashion ghost story, in the vein of Gothic horror like that which was popularised in the late 1800s, told in the style of the old-fashioned ghost films of the sixties in which suspense and story were more important than outright scares and special effects - a rare yet effective philosophy. It's at times a slower piece and the horror generally comes from quiet bumps in the night, so if you're expecting jump-scares or overt gore you're likely to be disappointed, but thanks to a keen focus on character and narrative technique you're always invested right up until the breath-taking climax that I'd peg as perhaps one of the best endings in any horror picture ever made. Unexpected, intelligent and edge-of-your-seat stuff that tightens its screws masterfully. 8/10

What can't be debated is the ending - it is indeed splendid. What I don't get is how most people manage to stay with it for the other 2 hours. I was just crying out for some development (plot or character) but it just plods along. Not enough for me - tempting to stay with it to find out what happens but, honestly, not worth it.

In this film, a mother tries to educate her two children by herself, protecting them from a mysterious illness that causes them great sensitivity to intense lights, such as sunlight. While her husband is fighting the Nazis, she lives isolated in a Channel Islands mansion, keeping the house in partial darkness along with three mysterious servants. The lead role is played by Nicole Kidman, who does a brilliant performance in a character who sometimes seems very loving, almost needy, and other times seems unusually hard. But she's just a woman trying to bear a burden that seems heavy: the burden of carrying everything back while her husband is away. The children are equally interesting: played by James Bentley and Alakina Mann, two very competent young actors, they are naive, sweet but also very mischievous, and their mischief contributes greatly to the suspense, especially the girl. She seems to know something that nobody else knows or to have a particularly sharp intelligence. The father, played by Christopher Eccleston, is almost a mere figure. He is purposely an absent character who is permanently present for the simple fact of all the others are constantly speaking of him, and this absence has great importance to the psyche of his wife. But the true life of this film is borrowed by Fionnula Flanagan and Eric Sykes who (along with Elaine Cassidy) give life to the house servants. The way they acted and how counter-acted with Kidman is brilliant, giving the film a deeply conspiratorial atmosphere. The constant darkness, the gas lights, the huge old house, the permanent haze surrounding the grounds are cliché elements that give the film a touch of elegance and help the audience to grab to the movie until the end, which is quite unexpected and disconcerting.