The Others

 

The Others 2001

• Director: Alejandro Amenábar
• Seen by this director: Tesis
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan, Alakina Mann, James Bentley, Eric Sykes, Elaine Cassidy
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Nicole Kidman – Big Little Lies, Destroyer, Top of the Lake, Lion, Genius, Queen of the Desert, Strangerland, Before I Go to Sleep, The Railway Man, Rabbit Hole, Nine, Australia, The Golden Compass, Fur, The Interpreter, Birth, Cold Mountain, The Human stain, The Hours, Dogville, The Birthday Girls, Moulin Rouge, Eyes Wide Shut, Practical Magic, Billy Bathgate
• Christopher Eccleston – The Leftovers, Legend, Fortitude, A Song for Marion, Doctor Who, 28 Days Later, eXistenZ, Elizabeth, Jude, Shallow Grave
• Fionnula Flanagan – Lost, The Invention of Lying, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Some Mother’s Son, many TV series
• Alakina Mann – Girl with Pearl Earring
• Eric Sykes – Son of Rambow, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,
• Elaine Cassidy – Disco Pigs, Felicia’s Journey
• Why? A classic of sorts. Kidman and Eccleston
• Seen: 2 October 2022      

       A big spooky isolated manor house, a mother (Kidman) who’s a religious fanatic and possibly insane, a husband (Eccleston) who is possibly dead, a little boy (Bentley) who is terrified, his feisty older sister (Mann) who sees things, three mysterious servants (Flanagan, Sykes and Cassidy) who show up out of the fog and know a lot more than they’re letting on, mysterious noises from upstairs.

       Of course, it’s scary. It’s low-key, slow-moving, thoughtful. And scary. And sad. Mostly sad.   

4* of 5