REEL REVIEWS COLUMN: Kidman meets 'The Others'
By Manuel García Sánchez
After a summer season full of second parts, it was good to finally find an imaginative movie that shocks and entertains the audience.
"The Others" is a horror movie in which you will not see any blood or visual effects and nevertheless, you will be scared. In this film, the young Spanish director, Alejandro Amenábar, creates, bit by bit, a spider web that traps you at the end.
The movie is set at the end of WWII in Jersey’s island. Grace (Nicole Kidman) is the mother of two pale children, Anne and Nicholas, who suffer from a strange allergy to sunlight.
For this reason, the mansion has some rules: First, no door can be opened until the other one is close, and secondly, the curtains must be closed every time a child is in a room.
A new trio, servants, will soon join the protagonists and then, strange things begin to happen. Little by little, the director starts to create a creepy atmosphere. He plays with horror movie stereotypes such as darkness, strange sounds, and doors that open by themselves.
There is something eerie. You can feel the presence of an invisible entity in the house. But you will have to find out what it is yourself because the less you know about the plot the better.
Kidman plays one of her biggest roles. Her stare portrays suffering and pain with dignity. You really believe her torment. The children are excellent. And although, the movie may seem slow, the explosion at the end it is worth it.
"The Others" is a audacious movie that makes you think. It is not only entertainment. There are some really scary moments. It would make you feel the same way as if you were alone in a dark room and started to fright without any apparent reason, just because you think there is someone else there.
In this movie, Amenábar pays tribute to the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. The protagonist’s name, Grace, is also the name of one of Hitchcock female collaborators, Princess Grace Kelly.