The Others · reception & legacy

2001 · Alejandro Amenábar

How The Others has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

A sleeper smash in 2001 — a $17M gothic chamber piece that quietly grossed over $200M — and it's only climbed since, now routinely cited as proof the classical, no-gore ghost story never stopped working.

What's debated

The eternal fan debate: is its twist actually better-constructed than The Sixth Sense's, and does the film get unfairly filed as a copycat when it stands entirely on its own?

Its footprint

Its ending is a permanent fixture on every 'greatest twist' list, and the séance scene — the little girl's voice coming out of the wrong face — remains one of the most-screenshotted jump-out-of-your-skin moments in 2000s horror.

Where it stands

A Halloween-season perennial and Letterboxd favourite — the modern gothic that horror fans hand to people who claim they don't like horror.

★ Did you know? It became the first English-language film ever to win Best Film at Spain's Goya Awards (it won eight in total) — and it was produced by Tom Cruise's company, hitting theatres just as his divorce from star Nicole Kidman made headlines.

Named by the director

Influences Alejandro Amenábar has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

Alfred Hitchcock — Amenábar repeatedly cited Hitchcock in press for the film, saying he wanted suspense built from atmosphere and restraint rather than gore.