For a smart, feminist horror film, look no further than The Others

Disguised as a scary movie, the Nicole Kidman-led The Others is actually a meditation on the isolation of motherhood.

If you enjoyed Nicole Kidman’s Emmy-winning turn on Big Little Lies — in which she portrayed a woman only barely keeping it together as she hides a horrible secret — you should probably watch the 2001 Gothic horror film The Others.

For those of you who have not seen Alejandro Amenábar’s movie, it centers on Grace (Kidman), a woman trying to maintain her sanity as she raises her children, who have special needs, in a secluded house that just might be haunted. The film definitely delivers on the scares and thrills, but once you look past the inanimate objects moving by themselves you realize that the plot of The Others, like in all the best horror movies, is actually a metaphor for something else entirely. Grace isn’t just fighting to rid her home of spirits: she’s fighting to establish her own identity, one that’s separate from motherhood. And she’s losing the battle.

The setting

There is no escape for Grace in The Others, no chance for any life beyond the domestic sphere. This is a direct result of the film’s setting: Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, shortly after the end of WWII. She is figuratively stranded within her life and literally stranded on an island.

In addition to the geographical hitches, Grace is also a castaway in her own home. She lives in a mansion — which looks and feels more like a mausoleum — with just her two children and three servants as company (and, by the way, one of the servants is a gardener who rarely comes inside and another is a mute). Her husband has been MIA since the end of the war. There is no electricity, no light, and the postman and vicar are the only people who ever drop by. To make matters worse, the constant, impenetrable fog that surrounds the house keeps Grace from venturing off the premises.

“I’m beginning to feel totally cut off from the world,” Grace admits at one point. Feelings really have nothing to do with it; Grace simply is cut off from the world.

The kids

Much of Grace’s isolation is due to her children’s photosensitivity. In layman’s terms, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley) are allergic to bright light. If they are exposed to sunshine or anything stronger than a lit candle, their skin breaks out into sores and their throats close up. Since Anne and Nicholas’ illness forces them to live sequestered lives, their mother does, too. They need Grace for everything, even if it’s just moving from one end of the house to the other. So, not only is Grace experiencing the totally normal frustrations of people with young children — namely that she can’t have a minute to herself — she knows that the photosensitivity means that her children might always need her.

The suffocation that Grace feels is exacerbated by the house’s darkness and the rigid protocol she keeps to ensure her children’s health. All the curtains must be drawn before Anne or Nicholas enter a room. Once they do enter, the door is locked behind them so no one accidentally opens it and lets the light in.

Grace encounters fairly run-of-the-mill issues with her kids, too. Anne, the elder child, has a smart mouth and is trying to break away from her mother, which is natural but impossible given her condition. Nicholas is a few years younger and more anxious than his sister, which means he is extra clingy with his mother. “Mummy can’t be with you all the time. You must learn to be on your own,” Grace tells her son — but it’s obvious Grace fears that neither Nicholas nor Anne will ever learn to live on their own.

Even in the most loving, healthy relationships between parents and their kids, the adults occasionally look forward to the day their children won’t need them as much. Grace knows that day will probably never come for Anne and Nicholas. There is no light at the end of the tunnel.

The culture

The true horror of The Others comes from the societal norms that Grace unconsciously pushes against. When you watch the film, you get the feeling that she could be a lot happier if she had anyone to talk to, another adult who would listen to her without judgment. Unfortunately, women weren’t exactly encouraged to air their grievances back in the ’40s and if they did, empathy was certainly not a guarantee. So most of the movie sees Grace struggling to contain her paranoia about the house’s supernatural “intruders” as well as her everyday sadness, frustration, and anger. Sometimes she acknowledges that something is wrong, but she’s mostly in willful denial.

When Grace actually does have the chance to talk with fellow adults, something always manages to get in the way. Her husband (Christopher Eccleston) returns home but is haunted by what he’s seen and done, and is barely able to look his wife in the eye, let alone carry on a conversation. When her housekeeper, Mrs. Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), attempts to comfort her (“You can’t take on the whole responsibility of this house”) Grace’s classist instincts take over. She haughtily snaps, “Who do you think you are? You have no idea what has to be done.”

The closest Grace comes to actually vocalizing the movie’s subtext — the idea that motherhood can be stifling — is when she tearfully confronts her husband about why he joined the war. “I loved you,” she says. “That was enough for me. Living in this darkness, in this prison. But not for you.” What she doesn’t say is that it was possible for him to leave, even if it was for a noble reason. As a mother, Grace never had that option and never will.

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With its inky darkness, quiet feeling of dread, and things that go bump in the night, The Others is a well-done, entertaining scary movie, even if you don’t notice the commentary on motherhood. However, I believe that looking beyond its haunted house surface makes the film even more rewarding. The first time you watch The Others, you’re freaked out by the disembodied voices and the doors that open and close on their own. When you watch it again, you realize Grace’s plight is what’s truly terrifying. She’s suffocated by her life and there’s no way out.