The Others (2001) | | A movie with mind-blowing twist

I was browsing through my movie watchlist, in search of something good to watch. And I came across The Others. I didn't quite remember what about the movie made me list it, I decided to watch it regardless. I thought it would be worth my time despite forgetting what it's about. I honestly did not expect much from the movie when I pressed play. I thought it would just be another one of those horror movies about a woman, her strange house, strange things happen and then a priest comes to exorcise the place. In fact, I figured I knew exactly how it would end. But this movie was completely different. Like it actually flipped the prediction I have of all ghost movies.

The Plot

Grace Stewart stays in a big mansion, along with her two children. A girl and a boy named Anne and Nicholas. Her husband who went to war hasn't returned home, leaving it just the three of them. Anne and Nicholas both suffers from a rare condition that makes them allergic to daylight, which means that every curtain in the house remain closed. Grace is very strict about that. And so, the house is almost always dark and gloomy.

Grace hires three new servants - Mrs Mills, Mr. Tuttle and Lydia - to help around the house. From the moment they arrive, weird things starts happening. Doors open on their own, strange noises echo through the halls and Anne starts talking about seeing other people in the house. Grace, being religious and already on edge, starts to believe that was an intruder in her house.

Throughout the movie, she becomes paraniod. She thinks there are ghosts trying to harm her children. She hears voices, sees things move and even starts losing her grip on what's real. And then she learns that the three servants she hired and had working with her were actually long dead, for over a century. After that, the truth drops. The twist I didn't see coming at all.

Grace and her children weren't being hunted, they were the ghosts.

I remember literally sitting there, stunned. All those signs, the locked rooms, the strange servants and even the "intruders" she thought were haunting her, they were actually the living people. Grace and her children died some time ago. She was in a state of denial until the memory of what happened came back to her. It was really heartbreaking for me to watch. She remembered how she smothered her children and then killed herself. That part got me. The movie was no longer scary at that point; it's just sad.

When everything clicked, my mouth literally dropped. The movie had been leading me on from the start and I completely fell for it. The entire time, I kept suspecting the servants and when Grace discovered that the servants had actually died years ago, I thought, "Aha, I knew it". But nah, I was wrong. I had just watched a whole movie, watching ghosts live their lives, feeling bad for them, thinking they were a victim of haunting, but ghost all along, they were the ghosts. The whole movie completely flipped in one scene and then it started to make sense.

Grace and her children remained in the house. They refused to leave even though they were already dead, claiming it as theirs. While the family who moved into the house left.

It's honestly brilliant storytelling. There was no need for jumpscares or blood. The fear came from the truth itself.

I liked how the movie played with perspective. We're so used to seeing ghosts as the scary ones haunting the living. But here, the movie flips it. The living were the strangers and the ghosts were the ones just trying to keep their home. It's genuis.

Nicole Kidman's performance sold everything perfectly. At the same time, she was strict, afraid, protective, and delicate. The shift from anger to confusion to realisation was heartbreaking to watch.

I would rate The Others a 9/10. It was indeed worth my time. If you love psychological horror, this one is absolutely worth watching.

Images source: IMDB