The Others is an effective ghost story that harkens back to classic yarns like 1961's The Innocents with Deborah Kerr and 1943's The Uninvited with Ray Milland. In The Others, Nicole Kidman plays Grace Stewart, a woman living in a big darkened house in 1945 Jersey, England...The Channel Islands, with her two kids Ann and Nicholas who are photosensitive to light. She keeps all the curtains in the house closed during the daytime and locks every door behind her just in case someone forgets a curtain here and there. Everything is fine until three strangers come in response to the ad Grace put in the newspaper, seeking servants. An older woman named Ms. Mills, a young deaf woman named Lydia, and an older man named Mr. Tuttle. Soon the kids are hearing voices and noises and Grace thinks nothing of it, until she starts noticing strange things herself. Grace is holding out for her husband to return from the war but it has been years. Meanwhile things start to get more and more creepy. The Others is a welcome relief to the glut of bloody horror movies. It delivers suspense and chills without a single drop of blood. And the ending is a good twist of an ending. I for one did not see it coming. Ms. Kidman is solid throughout, giving one of her best performances ever. Her role of the stern but loving mother is not easy to like at times, but you still understand her and come to like her by the end. The Others is a suitably effective thriller perfect for Halloween.
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