The Others and the psychological thriller

What makes a thriller movie a good one? Is it the number of jumpscares? How terrifying are
the villains? Or is it the way it leaves you when you are alone in your room at night, when
you just cannot stop thinking about it? Scripted and produced by the Chilean-Spaniard
filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar, The Others will surely makes you toss and turn up all night.

Starring Nicole Kidman in the role of the main character Grace, The Others takes place at the
end of World War II, in a haunted big house on Jersey Island. Grace lives in the big house
with her children, played by Alakina Mann and James Bentley, and she is waiting for her
husband to come back from the war. The only thing Grace does not know is that her husband
was killed in the middle of it. Her children suffer from photophobia (light sensitivity), so
Grace keeps the house in the dark with closed curtains. By creating characters with this kind
of phobia, Alejandro creates the ideal atmosphere for horror movies, with darkness,
claustrophobia, and tension. The luminosity becomes the scary thing, totally unlike
everything we are used to.

To avoid accidents and to her children’s welfare, Grace creates a rule, which is to lock every
door before opening another and to keep the curtains always closed. She notifies those rules
to her new servants, who got there to replace the others who mysteriously disappeared. Right
after the beginning of the movie, Grace starts to experience an unusual phenomenon: her
daughter starts to have visions of another family in the big house, and gradually she starts to
listen to scary noises herself. Grace just cannot accept nor understand that there are ghosts in
her house, as a Catholic, so she just cannot believe that they are real. So, those incidents not
only terrify her but confound her to make her question her values.

The Others counts on Nicole Kidman and her amazing acting in a complicated role because
Grace is a woman with a strong and complex personality who makes everything possible to
keep her children safe. The movie shows us the discussion of the characters, and we see them
questioning what they saw according to their own religious beliefs. It explores those religious
conflicts to increase tension in the story, but without criticizing those religions. The ending
counts with an incredible plot twist, involving the watchers until the very end.

The Others is such an incredible movie, with amazing production and a wonderful cast, that it
was nominated for the Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards, Saturn Awards, Young Artist
Awards, and Goya Awards. Unfortunately, the only award that it won a prize for was the
Young Artist Awards, with James Bentley as a contestant for the Best Actor Until 10 Years
Old.

So, as you can see, The Others is the story of a mother who would do everything for her
children, including questioning her own beliefs. With strong and well-elaborated scenes, the
movie counts with everything a thriller movie has to offer, a haunted house filled with
darkness, ghosts, and tension. The plot twist in the end makes the watcher be awed by the
creativity of the filmmaker, showing that thriller movies do not have to have spooky monsters
to keep us up all night.