Take the tour ×

I watched the movie The Others recently, and I was blown away by the ending and the story. I was thinking about this plot element which didn't make much sense to me. It's about the return of the husband of Nicole Kidman's character. I am assuming that plot element employed by the director is that The husband's spirit, after his death, was looking for a way to reach his family, and he even says that dialogue implying that he was searching for their house for a long time in the fog.

What I really don't understand is if his spirit wanted to be with his family, why does he leave them? I am assuming that during his confused state he understands that his family also died like he did, why did he not stay with them? Does his spirit have any other purpose which was not implied in the movie? Can anyone clarify this aspect for me?

share|improve this question
mods I am not sure if i placed the spoiler hiding tags correctly.. –  Dredd Mar 19 '12 at 22:59
For spoilers you need to use >! Yada yada yada. However it seems you can't have two consecutive paragraphs spoilered so I had to break off a bit to put in betwixt. –  Verge Mar 20 '12 at 1:13
The site stance on spoilers is "Read at your own risk", as per the faq. Since I lost the edits I was going to make, I will clean this up later (unless someone beats me to it). –  DForck42 Mar 20 '12 at 21:33
This last answer is right. In the bible lesson in the beginning of the movie the children said that they would deny Christ. That's why they are in purgatory as well a their mother. –  Alex Sep 20 at 23:25
add comment

2 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

Here's the way I understood it:

The husband was killed in the trenches, and is doomed to haunt that place (as his wife and children are doomed to haunt the mansion). He comes home to visit his children, but eventually returns to the front. It is also hinted that his relationship with his wife was strained even when they were alive, and that this strain is what drove the husband to go to join the war in the first place.

share|improve this answer
That makes whole lot of sense. Thank you ! –  Dredd Mar 20 '12 at 14:25
add comment

No. The wife and children are stuck in purgatory, but he gets to go to heaven. In some Christianity and Catholicism beliefs, suicide prevents you from going to heaven. You're just stuck. I am not 100% sure about the children, but I think their distressful death by their mother leaves them trapped.

share|improve this answer
add comment

Your Answer


