A spooky self-isolation classic to round off our latest mini-season, The Others stars Nicole Kidman as a repressed war widow facing a supernatural home invaders while holed up with her two allergy-stricken children in a remote Jersey mansion.
There’s a charmingly old-school simplicity to this movie, which plays out like a classic ghost story of the Hollywood Golden age – there’s clear shades of Hitchcock’s Rebecca, alongside the more obvious The Turn of the Screw. Modern horror movie jump-scares are largely eschewed in favour of a slow-burn of tension and unease, building to a twist ending that packs a surprisingly emotional punch.
In addition to Kidman – on fine breathy form in one of the last roles she filmed before her highly publicised split from Tom Cruise – The Others is a long overdue showcase for veteran character actress Fionnula Flanagan, who makes an unsettling impression as the secretive Mrs Mills, a housekeeper who definitely knows more about the mysterious happenings in the old house than she’s letting on…
In this week’s podcast, we discuss the year of Kidman, why her screen persona makes her the perfect fit for a high-end scream queen, the misleading billing of Christopher Eccleston and much more, plus drinking games, listener submissions and our fantasy sequel pitches to bring The Others back to the big screen…
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We’re still recording remotely, but we’re moving on from claustrophobia movies for the time being and returning to an old reliable for next week’s episode. Until then, happy listening and remember… just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean the sinister Irish nanny isn’t out to get you…