Thoughts on The Others
Been wanting to watch this for aaaaages
Been at least something in the back of my mind ever since the trailer terrified me as a kid - that whole ‘I am your daughter’ scene kept me up at nights! (when I could tell it was coming up in the movie itself I was squirming in my seat and nearly nope-d out of the room)
But now I’ve finally seen it!
Sadly I already knew the twist :(
Though I do wish I could have experienced it unspoiled, I still loved the heck out of it!
The atmosphere and acting was just amazing
Nicole Kidman needs to do more horror movies
The child actors in particular really impressed me. They were SO good
It’s neat how it takes quite a while for anything actually spooky to happen, but things are still a little creepy and uneasy with the strange rules of the house. Plus it was never boring and I cared about the characters, so that helped.
And having known the twist it was kinda cool to watch it and catch the double-speak that happens occasionally
Although I didn’t realize until later the deeper meaning in Mrs. Mills’ promise to not leave the children (I think I had read before seeing this that she and the other two were also ghosts but I’d forgotten that part and didn’t realize it for a little while)
So, you know how the old servants ‘disappeared in the middle of the night’? Did they actually or was that just Grace and the children moving into the world of the dead? Because I can see it either way: if they really did abandon the family, maybe that helped lead to Grace killing her children?
Ann might have explained the timeline early in the movie when she first mentioned ‘that day’ but I forget now.
I really liked the scene when Grace was searching for the curtains and the camera would sweep back to show how all the doors were standing wide open, that was really cool. I like that kind of thing where they show us something that would normally be kind of innocuous but we understand why it’s meaningful. It kind of reminded me of the second time I watched the opening of The Haunting and understood why the second wife was just so terrified by that door opening (that movie is fucking terrifying omg)
Ok ok so the father - where was he going then?? Is ‘going to the front’ code for moving on from limbo/the ghost world (since he didn’t die by murder/suicide)? Is it just that he’s going back to where he died (to haunt it maybe)? Is it more relating to his apparent PTSD and feeling distant from his family? I WANNA KNOW
And how’d he get there anyway? And where were the three servants before they first came to the house? What are the rules on ghost travel? How much time has passed since Grace and the children died and when the movie begins?
Why are they the only ghosts at the house when clearly many have lived there? Maybe it’s because they all died within the house? Or it’s related to what Mrs. Mills said about always feeling like she belonged there? Because I could see Grace feeling that way too (especially given her last line in the movie - ‘no one can make us leave this house’) but I’m not entirely sure because she does also express how she’s feeling cut off from the world and she doesn’t like being cooped up in the darkness and locked doors and how the old servants knew she couldn’t leave the house.Â
I DUNNO. It’s probably better that they left it ambiguous but I want answers damn it
I also think it’s kinda funny that the only time the phrase ‘the others’ is used in the film is when Ann is talking about the old servants. Whenever people are referring to the living family they call them ‘the intruders’.

















