A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
After Carlos - a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War - arrives at an ominous boys' orphanage, he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover.
Laura, a former orphan, raises her adopted son Simón together with her husband Carlos in an old house and former orphanage where she was raised. While at the orphanage Simón tells Laura that he has five invisible friends which she believes are a product of his active imagination. Laura decides to reopen the orphanage to cater for disabled children and throws a party. During the party Simón tries to persuade Laura to go and take a look at his friends cabin but she's too busy. Later on she sees a mysterious masked boy and realizes that Simón has also disappeared. Laura feels the presence of other people in the house and months later Laura invites a team of parapsychologists to try to unravel the mystery.Written by
Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
One of the orphaned children Laura identifies in the photo she is shown she calls "Guillermo", an obvious nod to the Producer of the film. You also see his name during the scene where the window behind Laura smashes and she reveals the names of the old orphans and the dolls. See more »
Goofs
Simon enters the basement from the same door as his mother, without using the door handle. He doesn't even rip the wallpaper. When his mother enters everything is untouched. See more »
Laura (Belen Rueda) returns to the orphanage she spent time in as a child with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and little boy Simon (Roger Princep) in hopes of re-establishing it as seaside retreat for children with disabilities only to find there may be some former residents who never left. In Juan Antonio Bayona's tightly wound "The Orphanage" nothing is as it seems and child's play takes on sinister overtones.
Bayona belongs to this new wave of Spanish-language directors (most notably Del Torro and Amenabar) who excel when it comes to creating moody atmospheric tales of the supernatural with Catholic overtones. Whereas "Pan's Labyrinth" took a dark fantasy approach to a Passion Play, "The Orphanage" is closer to the classic haunted house themes of "The Others" as it attempts to give a sentimental view of life after death. Be warned, "The Orphanage" is often more sad than scary, and those not familiar with Catholic mysticism might find things a bit hard to believe. As goes the film's mantra...Believe, Then You Will See. Those with the patience and the heart will be greatly rewarded as the audience doesn't necessarily have to Believe to relate to the characters who do.
Working from refined "less is more" psychological horror templates, Bayona delivers the formulaic goods. There will be a simplistic but heartfelt exploration of grief. There will be allusions to classic literature (in this case a very nicely done "Peter Pan" as Catholic allegory motif). There will be uncovering dark secrets from the past. There will be precocious children with spooky imaginary friends. There will be creaking set designs and manipulative sound effects to create "gotcha!" moments. There will be a creepy medium (an excellent Geraldine Chaplin) brought in for a séance. And there will be a twist at the end.
Thankfully, there is also a great performance from Belen Rueda as Laura. She gives a compelling portrayal of a woman devoured by her loss and achingly desperate for the truth no matter how horrific that truth might be. One must have a cold heart not to find sympathy with her, and even the most hardened audience member will find it hard not to feel that stray tear form in the corner of their trembling eye when all is revealed. "The Orphanage" offers nothing terribly new, but sometimes the same old ghost story presented in a beautiful way makes for the best type of cold-rainy-day entertainment.
100 of 132 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Laura (Belen Rueda) returns to the orphanage she spent time in as a child with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and little boy Simon (Roger Princep) in hopes of re-establishing it as seaside retreat for children with disabilities only to find there may be some former residents who never left. In Juan Antonio Bayona's tightly wound "The Orphanage" nothing is as it seems and child's play takes on sinister overtones.
Bayona belongs to this new wave of Spanish-language directors (most notably Del Torro and Amenabar) who excel when it comes to creating moody atmospheric tales of the supernatural with Catholic overtones. Whereas "Pan's Labyrinth" took a dark fantasy approach to a Passion Play, "The Orphanage" is closer to the classic haunted house themes of "The Others" as it attempts to give a sentimental view of life after death. Be warned, "The Orphanage" is often more sad than scary, and those not familiar with Catholic mysticism might find things a bit hard to believe. As goes the film's mantra...Believe, Then You Will See. Those with the patience and the heart will be greatly rewarded as the audience doesn't necessarily have to Believe to relate to the characters who do.
Working from refined "less is more" psychological horror templates, Bayona delivers the formulaic goods. There will be a simplistic but heartfelt exploration of grief. There will be allusions to classic literature (in this case a very nicely done "Peter Pan" as Catholic allegory motif). There will be uncovering dark secrets from the past. There will be precocious children with spooky imaginary friends. There will be creaking set designs and manipulative sound effects to create "gotcha!" moments. There will be a creepy medium (an excellent Geraldine Chaplin) brought in for a séance. And there will be a twist at the end.
Thankfully, there is also a great performance from Belen Rueda as Laura. She gives a compelling portrayal of a woman devoured by her loss and achingly desperate for the truth no matter how horrific that truth might be. One must have a cold heart not to find sympathy with her, and even the most hardened audience member will find it hard not to feel that stray tear form in the corner of their trembling eye when all is revealed. "The Orphanage" offers nothing terribly new, but sometimes the same old ghost story presented in a beautiful way makes for the best type of cold-rainy-day entertainment.