This is a great ghost story. It’s dripping with atmosphere. It has one of the best setups and payoffs. It has a great leading performance. This is the perfect movie for your Halloween vibes. 

Released in 2001 and starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Alejandro Amenabar, this film tells the story of a woman and her two photosensitive children in 1945 England who come to believe that there is a supernatural force in their vast house. 

The script for this film is absolutely brilliant. Grace, played by Nicole Kidman, is a controlling and high strung woman. Her children become sick when exposed to sunlight. Grace protects her children fiercely by constantly locking the doors and keeping the curtains tightly drawn. 

There are layers to the brilliance here. The constantly drawn curtains mean the film is shrouded in constant darkness. Huge rooms are lit only by candles and dim gas lamps often placed on the floor. Creating vast shadows and huge empty spaces in which anything could be lurking. The darkness is oppressive. 

Grace almost manically controlling. She is constantly locking doors and trying to keep every little detail of their lives under tight control. It’s the perfect foil for a haunting. She locks the doors, the ghosts unlock them. She draws the curtains tight, the ghosts remove them. Control is being taken away from her by a force she cannot understand or contend with. 

Grace is played by Nicole Kidman. She’s never been my favorite actress, but she was incredible here. She has such intense control over her emotions and her body, and then when she loses that control the emotional outbursts are so authentic yet unique to this character. She doesn’t just scream at the servants. She raises her voice, then pauses and tries to control herself. We can see the wrestling match inside her as she contends with her feelings. Then she yells at them louder as the wrestling match ends with her feelings winning out. It’s those little moments of nuance and internal struggle that she conveys so well in this movie. It’s a great performance. 

The direction by Amenabar is pitch perfect. It’s moody. It’s elegant. It has some wonderfully scary moments. One of my favorite moments involves a room full of furniture in storage. Grace is surrounded by large objects under white sheets. It’s a maze of shrouds and suddenly we can hear whispering. Quiet voices that seem to be coming from every direction. The lighting, set, and sound all combine to create a wonderfully scary set piece. Amenabar uses all the tools in the tool belt to make moments like this really land. It’s brilliant. 

I don’t want to give anything away here, but I will say that the film is not straight forward. It is full of turns that keep the viewer guessing and keeps you on your toes because you’re never quite sure if you know what’s really going on or not. The film also benefits from repeat viewings because you get to see how certain reveals are set up from the beginning. 

It’s a great spooky time. I highly recommend it. I love a good ghost story and this is a very good ghost story. 

It is my cup of tea A