The Others (PG-13)
Criterion; IMDb; Miramax; Rotten Tomatoes; StudioCanal; TV Tropes; Wikipedia
streaming sites: Amazon; Google Play; iTunes; Vudu

Not to be confused with the TV series The Others.

The movie is set in England in 1945, at a remote mansion. This mansion is inhabited by Grace Stewart (played by Nicole Kidman), and her two children, Anne and Nicholas. At the start of the movie, three people show up, an older woman and man named Mrs. Mills and Mr. Tuttle, and a mute girl named Lydia. The three of them become servants, though really the only one of much importance to the story is Mrs. Mills. Anyway, we learn that Grace's children have a medical condition which makes them extremely sensitive to light, which could kill them. So, Grace keeps all the rooms in the house locked, and closes all the curtains whenever the children are going to enter a room. The most light they can stand is from a wicker lamp. We also learn that Grace's husband, Charles, had gone off to fight in the war, and she hasn't heard any news of him since then (even though the war is over now). Another thing that happens early on is that Anne tells Mrs. Mills that some time ago, their mother had gone mad (though apparently it had just been on one particular day).

Well, Grace makes her children study biblical stories. She definitely seems very devout, though her children don't believe everything from the Bible. Anne likes to make up stories about ghosts, or at least repeat stories she's read, to scare her younger brother. But she also talks of having seen a family in the house, who she says aren't ghosts. Grace doesn't believe her, but eventually she becomes concerned that there are, in fact, intruders in the house, though she and the servants can't find them. It does eventually become clear, however, that the servants know something they're not ready to tell Grace.

I don't really want to divulge any more of the plot. There clearly are strange things going on, which seem to be designed to make the viewer think the house very well may be haunted. But, I did make a guess about a possible twist in the story, or actually two related possible twists. I should probably refrain from telling you what those twists were, or whether or not I turned out to be right about either or both of them. But... well, I won't say what I guessed, but I will say I was right. And I think, even if I found it somewhat predictable (even though I wasn't sure til near the end whether I was right or not), these twists made the movie much more interesting than if I'd been wrong. Rather tragic, yes, very sad... but a different way of looking at ghost stories. Not unique, but... not the norm, either. So, whatever. It was a decent story, I guess....