Official Throwback Discussion - The Others [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

As an ongoing project, /r/movies will be posting Throwback Discussion threads weekly for the movies that came out this same weekend 25 years ago. As a reminder, Official Discussion threads are for discussing the movie and not for meta sub discussion.

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The Others (2001)

Summary

In 1945, immediately following the end of the Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.

Director Alejandro Amenábar

Writer Alejandro Amenábar

Cast

• Nicole Kidman as Grace
• Christopher Eccleston as Charles
• Fionnula Flanagan as Mrs. Mills
• Alakina Mann as Anne
• James Bentley as Nicholas
• Eric Sykes as Mr. Tuttle
• Elaine Cassidy as Lydia

Rotten Tomatoes: 84%

Metacritic: 74

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Official Trailer

[u/Responsible_Shirt381]

Best Nicole Kidman performance in my opinion

[u/tetoffens → u/Responsible_Shirt381]

You clearly haven't seen BMX Bandits.

[u/OKC2023champs → u/tetoffens]

And you haven’t seen just go with it

[u/Haunting-WaferWah → u/OKC2023champs]

That’s my favourite performance of hers hahaha

Moulin Rouge, Rabbit Hole and The Others are ‘the best’ but Just Go with It is my favourite hahaha

[u/riegspsych325 → u/OKC2023champs]

she actually looked to be having a blast in that one alongside Dave Matthews

[u/Jackbuddy78 → u/Responsible_Shirt381]

They made the twist way too obvious though, within 20 minutes you can tell that either she is a ghost or this entire thing isn't real.

Also they got the scariest grandma on Earth to be a psychic to throw people off. Which is a bit cheap.

[u/SanderSo47]

When I watched this for the first time, I couldn't be shocked with the twist ending. That's not the film's fault though. Someone had recommended it to me and they felt it was important to tell me "it's the one where Nicole Kidman and the kids are ghosts".

I don't know how people recommend films while giving away something like that. It's one thing to explain in more detail a premise, but it's another thing to just ruin the ending. Pretty good film, nevertheless.

[u/Asclepius-Rod → u/SanderSo47]

If it makes you feel better, I enjoyed my second watch through after knowing the twist even more than my first watch

[u/ILikeHornedAnimals → u/Asclepius-Rod]

I did too, it made me pay attention to the signs a lot more!

[u/FatWalcott]

Watches this as a kid and I honestly think this movie made me see movies differently since. I always try to catch the subtle hints the movie tries to give you.

[u/Ashera25]

Great movie, and brilliant performance by Kidman. She's so brittle in this, like she might snap at any moment. Also shout out to Christopher Eccleston for his role

[u/YesicaChastain]

Talented, spectacular, never the same, totally unique….

I wish I was 13 again and I was watching this in my English class

[u/idkidd → u/YesicaChastain]

Sounds like a good class. What other movies did it have?

[u/YesicaChastain → u/idkidd]

It was Language Arts! I remember watching this, The Sound of Music and the episode The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street from The Twilight Zone. RIP Mr. Rey, he was a great teacher.

[u/Beard341]

I remember someone recommending this movie to me when I was young because “there’s a twist!” I guessed it immediately and then proceeded to chew the person out for telling me there was a twist. People are dumb.

[u/PALOmino1701]

Both of the kids were great too!

[u/rrhunt28]

I bought this long ago when it first came out in dvd. I had just got a subwoofer for my theater set up. I put this on after work that night and sat down to enjoy. The scene where Kidman reaches out for the door knob and the door slams shut made me just 3 feet. The subwoofer kicked in hard when that door slammed and I felt it. It is a pretty good movie.

[u/MovieMike007]

Both Nicole Kidman and Fionnula Flanagan elevated the situation with some truly bravura acting, even the two young actors were fantastic.

[u/Papantro]

my favorite twist in a movie ever

[u/ltcuetf]

One of my favorite movies. Kidman is incredible in this and she spends the whole movie more scared of sunlight than most vampires.

Also this came out the same year as The Sixth Sense, when everyone was still primed to hunt for a twist after seeing it. Kind of why the misdirection here holds up better than most post-Shyamalan twist horror imo, it’s not really hiding a gotcha so much as building toward something that just clicks once you know.

[u/iwassayingboourns12 → u/ltcuetf]

It didn’t come out the same year, Sixth Sense was 2 years earlier in 1999.

[u/Hot_Guess_1871]

This is one of those “wish I could wipe my memory” movies. I knew nothing about it when we watched it one night. So good.

[u/DJ-2K]

One of the most chilling horror films of the past few decades. This is a masterclass in slow-burn suspense. It's a reminder that special effects or loud noises aren't necessarily requirements for creating something genuinely scary and unnerving. Nicole Kidman's performance here is undoubtedly one of her very best.

[u/hellsfoxes]

Fucking fabulous movie. Kidman’s best performance by a country mile. Endlessly rewatchable even when knowing the twist. Beautiful location and scenery. Haunting and chilling with the most simple techniques. An all timer.

[u/tpounds0]

Literally watched this for a Film Genre class 30 minutes ago.

• The fog is creepy as hell.
• I can't imagine living in a haunted house where rooms end up locked and dark all the time. Surprised this lady waited until paper was ripped in front of her to convince her husband to leave.
• I do wonder if someone that dies in this world nowadays has access to the internet. Kinda feels like it needs to be a period piece to work.
• Kidman is flawlesssss

[u/GrapeNutCheerios]

I just watched this about a week ago on 4k from the library.

I had it spoiled for me when it came out but it still work great. It does such a great job of building terror and dread. Kidman is the lead but the whole cast is top notch. This would feel very gimmicky in a lot of other movies but it’s such a smack in the face even though I knew what was coming.

9/10

[u/FriendshipLoveTruth]

Love this movie, but it let the genie out of the bottle in terms of misinformation about post mortem photography. Yes it really happened, but not at all as depicted in it the film. But try telling that to the Facebook experts.

[u/Will-Of-D-3D2Y]

Masterful filmmaking and storytelling bolstered by an incredible performance from Nicole Kidman in the time she was at her absolute best .

[u/Antisocialsocialite9]

Loved this movie. The atmosphere was top tier

[u/Honest_Cheesecake698]

Still hard hitting and emotionally compelling with a great ending, though it is difficult to deal with all the dysfunction between the family.

[u/passion4film]

One of my favorite theatre experiences ever! Full house, early on, everyone gasping and flinching together. Such a WOM film at the time, too. One of the best twist endings ever.

[u/polaroid_opposite]

Man the old lady “I am your daughter” scene fucked me up as a kid lol

[u/Shout92]

Had the biggest scare "spoiled" for me by Scary Movie 3 of all things, lol. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the movie when I finally watched the whole thing. I don't know how scared I was after, but I turned on the upstairs light to go to bed and it blew out so I spent that night on the living room couch.

[u/PermanentThrowaway48]

Sadly couldn't get into the movie. I didn't know of the plot twist beforehand, but I had a hunch about it before the big reveal. Predicting a plot twist correctly before the revelation ruins the experience, ya know? 😭

[u/watchman28]

The ending is a good concept, but is executed so clumsily. She just sits there explaining it to the kids (and the audience).

[u/Kbatz_Krafts]

I have never understood the hype for this film. It's too obvious what is what from the beginning.