Synopsis
While waiting for her husband to return from the Second World War, Grace Stewart (Kidman) retires with her photosensitive children to a mansion. The children have a disease in which they cannot be touched by direct sunlight without being hurt in some way. They live alone there with oppressive, strange and almost religious rules, until Grace needs to hire a group of servants for them. After the servants enter the home, strange events start to occur, and Grace begins to wonder if it’s her sanity getting the better of her or if there is something in the house with them.
There’s nothing quite like a nice ghost story. The Others is a great example of how a story can be built meticulously, not missing a single beat on the way up its rollercoaster ride of plot points, and conclude into a beautifully crafted downhill plummet for the climax. The best part about the film is that you’ll force yourself to watch it again after the big reveal. Of course all of this can be credited to director/writer Alejandro Amenábar, who keeps a tight ship steady with a creepy atmosphere filled with fog, doubt, cold characters and, most of all, a giant house. Amenábar’s ability to keep the audience guessing then pull them in at the end of the film is amazing. Even after watching the film more than once it was impressive to see all the intricate pieces that lead up to the ending; none of which gave away what the hell was going on. Once the reveal happens, and all the pieces are put together, then what you get is a solid, unbreakable story. It some respects he did a better job than M. Night Shyamalan and his film The Sixth Sense; the stories are both unyielding and extremely creepy.
Picking the right cast was important and Nicole Kidman couldn’t have been a better choice for the lead. Her pale complex mixed with a very strict motherly attitude helped to create a suffering family’s dilemma. She was believable as the heart and soul of this family waiting for the husband/father to return from the war. Her reaction at the end was terrifying, yet perfect. Along side her were the two children played by Alakina Mann (Anne) and James Bentley (Nicholas), who were as beautifully creepy as the film. Without these three actors the film would have been difficult to believe. They stick to their characters, Kidman as the strict, stressed out mother and the kids as disease, house-ridden innocents. They play their parts perfectly. Alejandro Amenábar did a great job with the casting and it honestly could not have been more perfect.
So, is there anything wrong with the film? Well, while the overall story is truly solid, the big issue that most people had with the film is that somewhere towards the end of the middle it became a bit tiring. Right before everything was revealed the story seemed to get just a little long in the tooth. Had some segments of it been shortened just slightly, or maybe a scare or two cut, then it would have been hitting its marks where it needed. Still, I’m not complaining. The Others does a great job with the overall story and even more so with the climax.
If you have never seen this film then you need to check it out.
With that said, the Blu-ray is pretty good, but not perfect. While there isn’t any color banding in the film, and there are plenty of opportunities for that to occur, there is some graininess and artifacts. When Nicole Kidman first steps out of the house and into the foggy surroundings you can see the bits of grain and artifacts in the fog. Once she returns to the house then that goes away. The movie transfer seems to suffer slightly when the picture is dominated by whites/grays. As soon as yellows, reds and blacks enter the scene (most of the inside of the house) then it becomes clean again. For a movie that can be purchased for $9.99 on Amazon I will take that bit of grain and artifacts every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
As for the audio, it exceeds expectations. It is mastered in 5.1 DTS-HD. Good audio for a good bit of horror goes a long way.
Finally, as for features here’s what you’re getting:
– A Look Inside The Others
– Visual Effects Piece
– Xeroderma Pigmentosum
– An intimate look at Alejandro Amenábar
– Theatrical Trailer
While there is nothing particularly new in the special features for the Blu-ray, they are still good features. You get a great documentary on the film, the visuals and the director. You also get a very odd documentary on the disease Xeroderma Pigmentosum, which is very interesting. Not bad, but nothing spectacular as a whole.