Grace: Nicole Kidman	Mrs. Mills: Fionnula Flanagan
Charles: Christopher Eccleston	Mr. Tuttle: Eric Sykes
Anne: Alakina Mann	Nicholas: James Bentley
Director: Alejandro Amenabar	Lydia: Elaine Cassidy

30 Second Bottom Line: A woman and her two children await the return of her husband from the war while living in an isolated mansion on the Isle of Jersey in 1945 England.

Story Line: One foggy morning (is there any other kind?) on an island in the English Channel, three people approach a Victorian mansion. The door is opened, barely beyond a crack, by the lady of the house, Grace (Nicole Kidman), who assumes they are the new servants she advertised for. The former staff left in the middle of the night with no explanation.

Mrs. Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), a kind-faced woman with soft silver hair, takes the lead in introducing the trio. She is a housekeeper and cook, the elderly man, Mr. Tuttle (Eric Sykes), is the gardener and Lydia (Elaine Cassidy), a shy young woman who does not speak, will help with the daily chores.

Grace walks them through the shadowy rooms of the mansion-locking and unlocking doors as they cross hallways and along staircases. She explains to her new employees that each door must be locked behind them before they open another. Grace's two children are sensitive to light; they can not breathe if they are exposed for more than a few moments. All drapes must be drawn before they enter a room. There is no electricity, so the children's lessons are done by candlelight.

Grace's daughter Anne (Alakina Mann) takes delight in frightening her younger brother Nicholas (James Bentley) by telling him that a young boy, Victor, whom only she can see, is in their bedroom, opening and closing the drapes. Later, when Anne confides that there are other unseen guests as well, she is punished for lying by her mother. Grace is stern in her word and discipline, having the children memorize lengthy bible passages and threatening them with an eternity in `children's limbo' if they are not good.

Mrs. Mills comforts Anne and she tells the sympathetic woman that things were different before "…the day that Mommy went mad." Grace may feel she is indeed going mad when she starts to hear noises and the piano playing when there is no one there.

Feeling she can no longer handle the situation of the house and the mysterious goings on, Grace sets out for town to bring the priest back to bless the mansion. Out of the shroud of heavy fog wanders her war weary husband, Charles (Christopher Eccleston). She helps him back to the house and he collapses in bed, obviously in shock and suffering from battle fatigue.

The culmination of this ghost story is best left unrevealed. Let's say it flies in the face of our notions about hauntings. Trust me, The Others is creepy and scary with a dollop of spectral humor thrown in.

Tell Me More About It: Writer/Director Alejandro Amenabar has created a world of fog, mirrors and darkness; perfectly photographed by cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, who uses light, dark and in between to capture the mood.

Nicole Kidman's initial restraint is enhanced by her cool, blonde appearance, which later gives way to her passionate defense of her children. Her daughter Anne is a bit ahead of her on the intuitive scale here. I sense that Anne is perhaps aware of the truth before Mum is.

Nicole Kidman: Moulin Rouge	Charles Eccleston: Gone in Sixty Seconds
Fionnula Flanagan: For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (TV)	Alejandro Amenabar: Vanilla Sky