The Others

Directed by: Alejandro Amenábar

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Alakina Mann, James Bentley, Christopher Eccleston

Rating:

On the heels of movies like The Sixth Sense, here comes The Others. For that very reason I was hesitant to watch the movie. I expected the same old predictable cheesy ghost story. But I was very pleasantly surprised. This is the director, Alejandro Amenábar's, first movie to be widely released in The United States. If all of his movies are as well made as this one, he will make quite a name for himself. He blends the right amount of solid acting, good casting, good story, eerie cinematography and music that he scored.

Nicole Kidman does a very good job, dominating the screen time but she is not without help. Her children, played by Alakina Mann and James Bentley are fantastic. They are given very grown up emotions to play and the both do it so well. Alakina does a fantastic job playing the sometimes scary little girl, Anne, and James is adorably cute as her younger brother. Together with Nicole Kidman, playing their mother, they round a perfect cast.

The movie follows a family trying to survive in a remote home on an English isle where they are geographically secluded from most of the world and to top it off, the children suffer from a rare skin disease, Photo Sensitivity, which makes sunlight lethal to them. Therefore, they are prisoners in their own home. Soon the realize after the arrival of some strange servants, led by Fionnula Flanagan, that they are not alone in the house. Something from another world torments them. The movie adds some fantastic surprises, twists, turns and good old fashioned scary moments.

I sat on the edge of my seat for a good portion of the movie. I rarely get scared or jump. Most scary movies are predictable. They use the same eerie music and unoriginal situations that numb audiences. With creative camera work and editing, this movie avoids that problem. I jumped 3 times myself and even let out a little scream once.

The only complaint that I haven is Christopher Eccleston's character. He's the estranged father. As much as I enjoy his acting, his character was really unnecessary. He adds very little to the story and cutting him out would've sped up this sometimes slow movie.

All in all, this is, thus far, my favorite movie of the year. Fantastically done and creative story. The kids are the stars and the weak points are few and far between. I highly recommend seeing this movie.