--- title: "The Others: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-others/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-others" critics_score: 77 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Others (2001): what the critics said Critics' score 77 from 16 reviews: 14 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics like The Others, and the reviews agree on why. It is a ghost story that works by suggestion rather than gore, and nearly every notice praises Alejandro Amenábar for his patience and control in building dread from small domestic disturbances in a fog-bound house. Nicole Kidman’s brittle, highly strung mother is singled out everywhere as the film’s anchor, with several reviews also crediting the children and the sound design and photography. The reservations are mild and cluster around how old-fashioned the film is. Total Film finds the pace sedate, and the Evening Standard, while admiring the control, thinks it a conventional exercise that copies the old dark house picture rather than pushing it somewhere new. Radio Times is cool too, calling it tasteful and old-fashioned. The spread is narrow: no critic dislikes it, the strongest notices call it one of the finer ghost stories of its kind, and the cooler ones concede the atmosphere while wishing for more. ## Empire — Caroline Westbrook Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The film delivers some of the creepiest, most atmospheric chills in years through unseen forces and subtle scares rather than graphic horror. Kidman's performance as the repressed mother is superbly cast and central to the haunting effect. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/others-review/) ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 30 October 2023. The critic praises Alejandro Amenábar's 2001 film as one of cinema's finest ghost stories that endures due to its direct confrontation with the genre's core secrets. They highlight how it confronts denial and loss in a classical, elegant haunted-house tale centered on Nicole Kidman's performance. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-others-one-of-the-best-ghost-movies-nicole-kidman-1234921445/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 9 August 2001. Festival review. The review hails the film as a sumptuously crafted, suspenseful supernatural thriller with moody visuals and strong performances, especially Kidman's. It notes the art-house qualities and effective building of tension without effects or violence. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/the-others/406543.article) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 August 2001. The critic describes the film as a genuine, integrity-filled psychological thriller that terrifies through what has happened rather than what happens, praising its conjuring of primal anxieties like fear of the dark and the dead over typical teenage horror fare. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/12/movies/film-the-house-is-dark-and-the-children-are-afraid.html) ## Time Out — TCh Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). The review calls the film a confident, subtle and controlled English-language debut that relies on suggestion and atmosphere rather than gore. It singles out the ingenious plotting, Kidman's pitch-perfect performance and its status as one of the best studio releases of the year. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-others) ## Variety — Dennis Harvey Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 August 2001. Festival review. The critic praises the film as a delicious old-fashioned goose-pimpler and luxuriously tailored star vehicle for Kidman, highlighting masterful control, memorable creepy set pieces, and a terrific cast led by her fascinating performance. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2001/film/reviews/the-others-5-1200469578/) ## Sight and Sound — Nick James Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). The critic praises Amenábar's controlled, atmospheric haunted-house chiller for its restraint, narrative sleights and technical craft. Kidman's feverish lead performance and the ensemble are singled out as highlights alongside the sound design and cinematography. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/it-earns-every-hair-it-stiffens-alejandro-amenabars-others) ## Los Angeles Times Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 August 2001. The critic calls the film elegantly and deliberately made, reeking of mood and creepiness, with a genteel menace that anchors in Kidman's intense, vulnerable performance dominating an atmospheric traditional ghost story. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-10-ca-32555-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 August 2001. The critic finds the film a quiet, brooding haunted house mystery that builds dread slowly through atmosphere rather than shocks, praising the director's patience and Kidman's convincing performance as a normal woman in a disturbing situation. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-others-2001) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 26 July 2001. Amenábar plants post-war solitude and dying religiosity before a backdrop of ghoulish shadows and claustrophobic mists in a dollhouse thriller that dares to challenge The Sixth Sense. The film evokes a hierarchically-informed spirit world and is also pretty scary. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-others/) ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 August 2001. The film is a simple, spare, and exhilaratingly old-fashioned haunted-house movie that builds tension through mundane disturbances. It harks back to classically constructed horror films that leave their scariest effects to the viewer's imagination. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-others-1798192719) ## The Guardian — Philip French Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 4 November 2001. The critic praises the film for renewing the ghost story tradition with quiet authority, drawing on influences like The Turn of the Screw and The Haunting. Nicole Kidman's edgy, concerned performance as the neurotic mother anchors the atmospheric, claustrophobic tale set in a fog-bound Jersey mansion. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/nov/04/nicolekidman.philipfrench) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 2 November 2001. An old-fashioned scary movie with ingenious touches that refreshes the ghost story genre through suspense, scares and surprises despite a sedate pace. Kidman's brittle performance and the children's unsettling presence heighten the clammy chills. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-others-review/) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. The film is a classy, elegant and conventional formal exercise in the old dark house spook movie with impeccable control and sustained atmosphere. It works on its own terms but is disappointing for not pushing the genre further, feeling like a simulacrum rather than a great original. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/ghosts-that-shake-not-shock-7433101.html) ## Radio Times Rating 3/5. 2 November 2001. The critic describes it as a tastefully literate, old-fashioned gothic chiller that relies on mood and atmosphere. Kidman's powerful performance as the highly strung mother is highlighted alongside the sophisticated approach to suspense. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-o3s45o/the-others/) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 November 2001. The critic praises the film's creation of an atmosphere of unease through suggestion rather than overt scares. They single out the flawless performances, particularly from the young actors and Nicole Kidman as the complex lead. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-others-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-others.md