The Others 2001

Critics score:
83 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News: Too polite, too subdued for its own good. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Is caught in its own netherworld, twixt somber and somnolent. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Coming near the end of a summer season filled with overproduced, underwritten movies, The Others feels like a small miracle. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Bumpy at first, with a few too many cliches and an awful lot of doors opening and closing. But by its final image -- a beautifully fading portrait through a window -- I was swept in. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Overall, Almenabar offers too little, too late in the story for viewers who like a sporting chance to out-think their thrillers. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Even at its most plodding, the film causes more gasps than yawns. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Mr. Serling would be pleased. Read more

Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune: It gives you a case of the creeps oh-so slowly, then hits you with a clever, mind-warping way of saying, 'Boo!' Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The director's technical rigor, in other words, outstrips his conceptual discipline, and midway through the film he crosses the thin boundary that separates mystery from muddle. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Creepy-verging -on-campy thriller with a great payoff, but a lot of broken promise. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: I saw the ending a mile away and couldn't have jumped higher. Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: An old-fashioned, goose-pimply movie. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Kidman has thrown herself into her role as if it were Lady Macbeth on the London stage, with formidable results. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: Something that giants such as Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott and Tim Burton have not been able to match so far this year. Read more

Steven Rosen, Denver Post: Worth seeing more than once. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The gimmicks, in the end, are too arbitrary to tie together in a memorably haunting fashion, though they do culminate in a Big Twist, a nifty one that almost -- but not quite -- makes you want to see the movie again. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: A welcome change of pace from most contemporary scary stories, where the shocks come with all the subtlety of flashers jumping out of park bushes. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: The Others is a horror movie in which the scary elements are all psychological, but that doesn't mean it doesn't sometimes jolt the senses. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It's atmospheric, stylish, and spooky. The plot is well thought-out and its secrets and mysteries are unveiled slowly. Unfortunately, it is also cold, distancing, and moves at a glacial pace. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: In drawing out his effects, Amenabar is a little too confident that style can substitute for substance. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: An elegantly crafted entertainment, balanced between the psychological and the supernatural. Read more

Wesley Morris, San Francisco Chronicle: Clever as the film is, though, it turns out to be an exercise in narrative withholding that's more headache provoking than suspense laden. Read more

Time Out: Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: A stylish attention-getter, the movie eventually wears you out without offering that much. Read more

Amy Taubin, Village Voice: This is one scary movie, not because we see ghosts or monsters, but because Kidman makes us feel her fear as our own. Read more