Even if you end up not impressed with the plot developments, which to some may seem obvious or derivative or - in light of other ghost stories released a year or so earlier - "done", Alejandro Amenábar's story of a family - Nicole Kidman's mother and her two photosensitive children whose condition demands they remain cloistered inside their stately manor home with curtains drawn and in the dark - will transfix with its cinematography - painterly visions of Kidman navigating a fog, for example - and captivate with the performances from Kidman, the kids - both terrific - and Fionnula Flanagan as the head of a trio of house servants who know more than they are letting on.
★★★★☆
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