The Others

Name: The Others
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Released: August 10, 2001
Duration: 104 min
Rating: 74
Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Nicole Kidman

2001

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 417 Ratings

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8.4

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8.4	User Score Universal acclaim based on 417 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Dimension Films | Release Date: August 10, 2001 | PG-13

Starring: Christopher Eccleston, Nicole Kidman

Summary: A supernatural thriller that begs the question of who to trust, what to fear and what to believe, then topples every assumption. (Dimension Films)

Director: Alejandro Amenábar

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Horror

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 104 min

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Critic Reviews

Peter Travers

Only some bumpy, arid passages in the script keep The Others out of the master class occupied by the likes of "The Sixth Sense" and, my favorite, 1961's "The Innocents." Read full review

Kenneth Turan

Though Kidman doesn't hesitate to make Grace high-strung and as tightly wound as they come, she also projects vulnerability and courage when they're called for. It's an intense, involving performance, and it dominates and energizes a film that would be lost without it. Read full review

Marc Savlov

A spare, discomfiting score and uniformly excellent performances, and you have a quiet little masterpiece of dark and chilling beauty. Read full review

Jami Bernard

The suspense is as tingly as jalapenos on the tongue. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

The gimmicks, in the end, are too arbitrary to tie together in a memorably haunting fashion, though they do culminate in a Big Twist, a nifty one that almost -- but not quite -- makes you want to see the movie again. Read full review

Jay Carr

Has everything you want in a supernatural thriller except thrills.

Lou Lumenick

What Amenabar offers here is an unconvincing, pretentiously artsy pastiche of just about every hoary old gothic thriller you can think of. Read full review

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User Reviews

Pelen23

Jul 20, 2014

Fantastic, the film manages to keep the plot tight and neat and creates great suspense something that the six sense couldn't do so no undeveloped subplots or underwritten characters in the others.Whether The twist ending is predictable or not .who cares ? Because the characters are wellFantastic, the film manages to keep the plot tight and neat and creates great suspense something that the six sense couldn't do so no undeveloped subplots or underwritten characters in the others.Whether The twist ending is predictable or not .who cares ? Because the characters are well written and Nicole Kidman's performance as the quirky mother is great that one of the most underrated performance see her facial expressions in the mirror while she is removing the sheets in that empty room.

If the others came out before the sixth sense , I bet everyone would diss the sixth sense.… Expand

9 of 11 users found this helpful92

Johno1972

Mar 19, 2020

I loved this movie & I'm very good @ figuring out the endings within the first 20 to 30 minutes of the movie & this ending I did not see coming. At times it may seem to drag but it's not, everything & every scene has a reason. You will NEVER figure out the ending & when it is revealed youI loved this movie & I'm very good @ figuring out the endings within the first 20 to 30 minutes of the movie & this ending I did not see coming. At times it may seem to drag but it's not, everything & every scene has a reason. You will NEVER figure out the ending & when it is revealed you will be shocked!!! If I could give this movie 10 stars ⭐️ I would… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

smijatov

Mar 9, 2011

"The Others" manages to do what most horror thrillers fail at doing - horrifying you without any gore and violence, but just through the genuine fear of the characters. With an impressively deceptive screenplay, one believes everything that Grace (Nicole Kidman) goes through and believes,"The Others" manages to do what most horror thrillers fail at doing - horrifying you without any gore and violence, but just through the genuine fear of the characters. With an impressively deceptive screenplay, one believes everything that Grace (Nicole Kidman) goes through and believes, but as her perception changes, so does the viewers until one is not quite sure what one ought to believe. Excellently directed by Alejandro Amenabar, who also did the soundtrack and wrote the screenplay, with some amazing cinematography and film editing, "The Others" manages to create such a genuinely spooky mood that one just cannot tear oneself away from watching the film through the end. The cast is impressive, to say the least. Nicole Kidman gives one of her best performances to date, as the grief-stricken, somewhat psychotic mother trying to protect her children at all costs. The children actors are excellent, also, as well as the servants in the film - especially, Fionnula Flanagan, who delivers a chilling performance as Mrs Mills.
Overall, the film is definitely worth seeing and is one of the scariest and gripping films that will make you wonder about it for days and days...… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

DawdlingPoet

Nov 21, 2021

I thought it was a good movie. It did feel pretty spooky and atmospheric and the story was intriguing enough to keep me interested to watch it right through until the end.

It was a good length and didn't seem to lag at any particular point. It had good acting, I felt that Nicole Kidman andI thought it was a good movie. It did feel pretty spooky and atmospheric and the story was intriguing enough to keep me interested to watch it right through until the end.

It was a good length and didn't seem to lag at any particular point. It had good acting, I felt that Nicole Kidman and the two child actor/actresses were particularly good, giving very realistic and believable performances and all in all it felt like a pretty high quality production, so it is worth seeing, although its not a particularly fast paced movie but rather more of a spooky slow burner, I suppose.

I'm not usually interested in period dramas but I do like a good supernatural movie, or ghost story, so this fit that well.

The main downsides to it, if any, is that it doesn't feature any amazing special effects, so don't watch it if thats what your looking for, its more a modern 1940s movie I suppose and it may be possible for others to guess some of whats going on before its revealed, though there is an extra twist at the end, which will probably surprise most. I thought that the end was pretty good but I suppose if you've seen many similar movies then it may be possible to figure it out.

All in all, it struck me as being a good, quality production. The story was interesting enough to keep me interested and there are some twists towards the end, although we, as viewers, are kept somewhat in the dark (har har) for most of the movie, its worth it to wait until the end when all is spookily revealed.

I thought that the story was pretty good in general and I would say that its worth watching, for the performances alone almost. It did seem a pretty traditional ghost story made for the screen and it did work, all in all, pretty well, so I would recommend it.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

HaithamB

Sep 6, 2014

The Others is a slow burning thriller meaning that it won't be as exiting some people as it is to other people. It is manipulative, creepy and sometimes anti - religion, but Nicole Kidman pulls it off as damsels in distress.

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

JLau

Sep 25, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Family hires dead servants but are haunted by what turns out to be a living family because they're the ones who've been dead for the whole film.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

mickelwick

Jan 5, 2013

okay, i was shown this as per the "gothic" section of the year ten english curriculum (in australia), and DEAR ZOMBIE JESUS DOES THIS MOVIE SUCK!

first off the bat, the twist ending, for anyone observant enough, is downright obvious within the first half hour, why? m. night shayamalanokay, i was shown this as per the "gothic" section of the year ten english curriculum (in australia), and DEAR ZOMBIE JESUS DOES THIS MOVIE SUCK!

first off the bat, the twist ending, for anyone observant enough, is downright obvious within the first half hour, why? m. night shayamalan made the sixth sense in 1996, a decent film that had a mind-blowing twist, in 1999, the japanese, whether they had heard of the sixth sense or not, nonetheless, refined the formula and gave us a more psychologically daunting and horrific take on the idea with silent hill, and in 2001, the others completely leeches off both of them (even the fog) to try and refine the "people who don't know they're dead" concept, which fails pitifully to bring anything fresh to the table, or to even creep me out, and even if you hadn't seen or heard of either of these things, it would still be obvious if you payed attention, because it is executed so sloppily!

secondly, the scares are NON-F**KING-EXISTENT, why? because the twist is so obvious and, just like paranormal activity, it does not give you anything to be scared of, oh, the curtains are down, how scary, oh, the plastic tarp (plastic tarp? one word: ANACHRONISM) rustled, how scary, oh, someone is walking loudly on the floor above, how scary... need i say, er... type more? only two scenes are creepy throughout the mercilessly dull 105 minute runtime: that iconic scene with anne in the pretty dress, and the scene where the housekeepers are confronting grace on the steps of her manor, after the little revelation that they're... TAKE ONE GODDAMN GUESS!

thirdly, the performances... dear god... nicole kidman is TERRIBLE, what is particularly amusing is roger ebert said the following "nicole kidman succeeds in convincing us that she is a normal person in a disturbing situation" her character is painted, from the start, as a thinly-veiled psychotic lunatic, i had no empathy for her, and because of that, all the scares that should have worked despite the poor twist fall flat, james bently was a terrible child actor playing a terrible child character, frankly, i wouldn't care if he died a violent horrific death, and that is not a good thing, alakina mann was one of three talented people in the entire movie, she was a decently realized character, and thus, i cared about her, which is why the scene i mentioned earlier worked so effectively, eric sykes and fionulla flanagan were great as the housekeepers, who manage to make otherwise flat dialogue oddly chilling, the story behind the maid was chilling, even if elaine cassidy wasn't really good as the maid.

finally, the sorry human being who made this, when you can't get kidman to act properly, and your movie rips off shayamalan and a video game, YOU NEED TO REVISE YOUR F**KING MOVIE!!!… Expand

1 of 20 users found this helpful119

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62	#62 Best Movie of 2001
18	#18 Most Discussed Movie of 2001
5	#5 Most Shared Movie of 2001