The Others
U.S. theatrical release poster
Directed byAlejandro Amenábar
Written byAlejandro Amenábar
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJavier Aguirresarobe
Edited byNacho Ruiz Capillas
Music byAlejandro Amenábar
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 10 August 2001 (2001-08-10) (United States)
  • 7 September 2001 (2001-09-07) (Spain)
Running time
104 minutes[5]
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$17 million[6]
Box office$209.9 million[6]

The Others (Spanish: Los otros) is a 2001 gothic supernatural psychological horror film written, directed and scored by Alejandro Amenábar, starring Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Elaine Cassidy, Eric Sykes, Alakina Mann and James Bentley. Set in 1945 Jersey, it focuses on a woman and her two young photosensitive children who experience supernatural phenomena in their large manor after the arrival of three new servants.

The Others was released theatrically in the United States on 2 August 2001, by Dimension Films and in Spain on 7 September 2001, by Warner Sogefilms. The film was a box-office success with a worldwide gross of $209.9 million, and received positive reviews from critics, who largely praised Amenábar's screenplay and direction as well as the musical score, atmosphere, and cast performances (particularly that of Kidman).

The film was nominated for fifteen Goya Awards and won in eight categories, including Best Film and Best Director. It was the first English-language film to be awarded Best Film at the Goyas (Spain's national film awards), without a single spoken-word of Spanish in it. The Others was nominated for six Saturn Awards including Best Director and Best Writing for Amenábar and Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Alakina Mann, and won three: Best Horror Film, Best Actress for Kidman and Best Supporting Actress for Fionnula Flanagan. Kidman was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Drama and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, with Amenábar being nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, a rare occurrence for a horror film.

Plot

In 1945, Grace Stewart resides in a remote country house in Jersey, a Channel Island formerly occupied by the Germans, with her two young children, Anne and Nicholas; both of whom suffer from a severe sensitivity to light. Because of this, Grace keeps the home darkened with large curtains. One day, a housekeeper, Mrs Bertha Mills, gardener Edmund Tuttle, and a mute girl named Lydia, arrive, all seeking employment. Grace hires them, and is pleased to learn the three worked in the same house years prior.

Anne claims to be regularly visited by a young boy named Victor, his parents, and an elderly blind woman. Grace believes this to be a fantasy but after she begins hearing footsteps and disembodied voices herself, she orders the house to be searched, believing there are intruders. In a storage room, she finds a nineteenth-century photo album containing photographs of corpses. Mrs Mills recounts that many left in 1891 due to an outbreak of tuberculosis. Grace begins to fear that there are supernatural entities in the home, but struggles to reconcile such things with her rigid Catholic faith.

At night, Grace witnesses a piano playing itself and becomes convinced that the house is haunted. She runs outside in search of the local priest to bless the house and instructs Tuttle to check the nearby cemetery to see if a family has been buried there. Tuttle covers the gravestones with leaves at the order of Mrs Mills. Grace runs into her husband Charles, whom she thought had been killed in the war. Charles acts very distant during his short stay at the house, presumably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his service in the war.

One day, Grace checks on Anne playing. To her horror, she instead finds an old woman wearing her daughter's communion dress. The old woman talks in Anne's voice. Grace attacks the old woman only to find that she has inadvertently attacked her own daughter. Charles informs Grace he must return to the front, rejecting her insistence that the war is over.

The next morning, Charles departs, and Grace is horrified to find all of the curtains in the house have been removed, exposing Anne and Nicholas to the sunlight. She accuses the servants of doing this and expels them from the house. That night, the children discover that the headstones in the cemetery belong to the trio of servants, and flee when they see the servants approaching them. Grace finds a photograph of the corpses of Mrs Mills, Tuttle and Lydia, who all perished during the tuberculosis outbreak. Mrs Mills tells Grace to talk to the "intruders".

Grace discovers that the elderly blind woman is in fact a medium holding a séance with Victor's parents, who have discovered via automatic writing that Grace, despondent after Charles died in the war, smothered her children to death with a pillow before committing suicide. Aghast, Grace, in a twist, realises that "the others" in the house are the living family that moved into their house, and that like the servants, she, Anne, and Nicholas are the ghosts; the ones who are dead.

Embracing her children, Grace admits to her act of murder–suicide: she had awoken afterwards and believed the event to have been a nightmare. Following the supernatural activity in the house caused by Grace and her children, Victor and his family move out. Anne and Nicholas realize they are no longer afflicted by the sunlight as they had been in life. The house goes up for sale again and Mrs Mills informs the Stewarts that they will have to learn to cohabit with the living residents. Grace ominously states that the house is only theirs.

Cast

Production

Filming locations are, among other spots, Palacio de los Hornillos in Las Fraguas, Cantabria, Northern Spain, and in Madrid.[7]

Release

Box office

The Others was first released in the United States and Canada by Dimension Films, opening on 10 August 2001 in 1,678 theatres. It grossed $14 million its opening weekend, ranking fourth at the U.S. box office behind American Pie 2, Rush Hour 2 and The Princess Diaries.[8] It stayed in fourth place for three more weeks, expanding to more theatres. During the weekend of 21–23 September, it was second at the box office, grossing $5 million in 2,801 theatres.[9] The film, which cost $17 million to produce, eventually grossed $96.5 million in the United States and Canada. It grossed $24 million in Spain, becoming the highest-grossing Spanish film of all time, beating the record set earlier that year by Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella.[10][11] It grossed $89 million in other countries, for a worldwide total gross of $209.9 million.[6]

Critical reception

Many critics praised the performances of the cast, especially that of Nicole Kidman as Grace Stewart. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 84% approval rating based on 171 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Others is a spooky thriller that reminds us that a movie doesn't need expensive special effects to be creepy".[12] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 29 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]

Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, praising that "...Alejandro Amenábar has the patience to create a languorous, dreamy atmosphere, and Nicole Kidman succeeds in convincing us that she is a normal person in a disturbing situation and not just a standard-issue horror movie hysteric". However, he noted that "in drawing out his effects, Amenábar is a little too confident that style can substitute for substance".[14]

Neil Smith of the BBC awarded the film four out of five stars, writing: "Shot in oppressive sepia amid near-darkness (Grace's children having a rare ailment that precludes exposure to sunlight), Amenábar racks up the tension to unbearable levels."[15] Time Out praised the film as "confident and controlled... Absence makes the heart beat faster: the absence of light, the corporeal absence of loved ones. Shrewdly cast, Kidman is pitch perfect. It's a clammy, ingenious film, one of the best studio movies of the year."[16]

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times cited Kidman's performance as the film's greatest strength, writing that she "has thrown herself into her role as if it were Lady Macbeth on the London stage, with formidable results. 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."[17]

Although the film deals primarily with the spiritual interaction of ghosts with each other rather than with living humans, William Skidelsky of The Observer has suggested that it was inspired by the 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw written by Henry James.[18]

Accolades

Institution Category Recipient Result Ref.
British Academy Film Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Nicole Kidman Nominated [19]
Best Original Screenplay Alejandro Amenábar Nominated
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best Actress Nicole Kidman Won [20]
Best Supporting Actress Fionnula Flanagan Nominated
Best Wide-Release Film The Others Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Nicole Kidman Nominated [21]
GoldSpirit Awards Best Original Score Alejandro Amenábar Nominated
Goya Awards Best Film The Others Won [22]
Best Director Alejandro Amenábar Won
Best Actress Nicole Kidman Nominated
Best New Actor James Bentley Nominated
Best New Actress Alakina Mann Nominated
Best Cinematography Javier Aguirresarobe Won
Best Editing Nacho Ruiz Capillas Won
Best Art Direction Benjamín Fernández Won
Best Production Supervision
  • Emiliano Otegui
  • Miguel Ángel González
 Won
Best Original Screenplay Alejandro Amenábar Won
Best Original Score Alejandro Amenábar Nominated
Best Sound
  • Ricardo Steinberg
  • Daniel Goldstein
  • Tim Cavagin
  • Alfonso Raposo
 Won
Best Costume Design Sonia Grande Nominated
Best Makeup and Hairstyles
  • Ana López-Puigcerver
  • Belén López-Puigcerver
 Nominated
Best Special Effects
  • Félix Bergés
  • Derek Langley
  • Pedro Moreno
  • Rafael Solórzano
 Nominated
Kansas City Film Critic Circle Awards Best Actress Nicole Kidman Won
London Film Critics' Circle Actress of the Year Nicole Kidman Won
Online Film Critics Best Actress Nicole Kidman Won
Best Original Screenplay Alejandro Amenábar Won
Satellite Awards Best Actress Nicole Kidman Nominated [23]
Best Supporting Actress Fionnula Flanagan Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Alejandro Amenábar Nominated
Best Film The Others Nominated
Best Sound
  • Ricardo Steinberg
  • Tim Caravign
 Nominated
Best Art Direction
  • Benjamín Fernández
  • Emilio Ardura
  • Elli Griff
 Nominated
Saturn Awards Best Actress Nicole Kidman Won [24]
Best Supporting Actress Fionnula Flanagan Won
Best Performance by a Younger Actor Alakina Mann Nominated [25]
Best Horror Film The Others Won [24]
Best Director Alejandro Amenábar Nominated
Best Writing Alejandro Amenábar Nominated
Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Award Alejandro Amenábar Nominated
Young Artist Awards Best Supporting Young Actress Alakina Mann Nominated
Best Young Actor James Bentley Won
Best Family Feature Film – Drama The Others Nominated

Home media

On 14 May 2002, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released a 2-disc collector's edition DVD.[26] On 20 September 2011, Lionsgate released the film on Blu-ray.[27] In July 2023, The Criterion Collection announced a forthcoming 4K UHD Blu-ray edition of the film scheduled for release on 24 October 2023.[28] StudioCanal concurrently announced distribution for a 4K UHD Blu-ray in Europe.[29]

Planned remake

In April 2020, Sentient Entertainment acquired the remake rights to The Others, with the company planning to revamp the film by setting it in the present day.[30] Later that year, it was announced that Universal Pictures will co-produce and distribute the film with Sentient.[31]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Otros, Los". Catálogo de Cinespañol. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Los Otros (2001)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Others (2001)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Levy, Emanuel (10 August 2001). "The Others". Screen International. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "THE OTHERS (12)". British Board of Film Classification. 4 September 2001. Archived from the original on 15 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "The Others (2001)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  7. ↑ "The Others (2001) Filming Locations - The Movie District". The Movie District. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Karger, Dave (15 August 2001). "American Pie 2 comes out on top". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "The Others (2001) - Weekend Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  10. ↑ Groves, Don (22 October 2001). "Romance, laffs boos o'seas B.O.". Variety. p. 12.
  11. ↑ Hopewell, John (24 December 2001). "Homegrown pix gain in Europe". Variety. p. 7.
  12. ↑ "The Others". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "Others, The (2001): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  14. ↑ Ebert, Roger (10 August 2001). "The Others (2001)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023 – via RogerEbert.com.
  15. ↑ Smith, Neil (29 October 2001). "The Others – Movie Review". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023.
  16. ↑ "The Others (2001), directed by Alejandro Amenábar". Time Out. 18 February 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2020.
  17. ↑ Turan, Kenneth (10 August 2001). "Kidman Proves Haunting". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023.
  18. ↑ Skidelsky, Will (29 May 2010). "Classics corner: The Turn of the Screw". The Observer. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013.
  19. ↑ "The Others". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023.
  20. ↑ Gingold, Michael (July 2002). "The 11th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Winners!". Fangoria. No. 214. p. 11.
  21. ↑ "The Others". GoldenGlobes.com. Archived from the original on 13 June 2023.
  22. ↑ "Los Otros". Premios Goya (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  23. ↑ "2002 6th Annual SATELLITE™ Awards". Satellite Awards. International Press Academy. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010.
  24. 1 2 "Nominees for 28th Annual Saturn Awards". United Press International. 14 March 2002. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015.
  25. ↑ "The 2001 Saturn Awards". MovieWeb. 13 June 2002. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012.
  26. ↑ Beierle, Aaron. "The Others DVD (SE)". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023.
  27. ↑ Harrison, William (15 September 2011). "The Others Blu-ray". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023.
  28. ↑ O'Rourke, Ryan (18 July 2023). "'The Others,' Tod Browning's 'Freaks,' and More Coming to Criterion in October". Collider. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023.
  29. ↑ "STUDIOCANAL announce special 4k reissue of THE OTHERS". StudioCanal. 31 July 2023. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023.
  30. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (8 April 2020). "Sentient Wins Remake Rights To Nicole Kidman Horror 'The Others', Alejandro Amenabar's Timely Self-Isolation Chiller Which Made $200M+". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  31. ↑ Kroll, Justin (12 October 2020). "'The Others' Remake In The Works As Universal Pictures & Sentient Entertainment Partner On New Movie". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
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