About.com Rating
I don't think I'm alone when I say that children are creepy -- Have you seen them eat? -- but it's been a while since a good creepy kid film has hit the big screen. Early in 2007, I had high hopes for Joshua, but it turned out to be more irritating than scary, sort of like babysitting 8-year-olds hooked on sugar cereal. But out of Spain comes The Orphanage (El Orfanato), a great old-fashioned haunted house -- er, orphanage -- yarn that delivers not only the requisite creepiness, but does so with a genuine corazón.
The Plot
Laura (Belén Rueda) has fond memories of her early childhood in the Good Shepherd Orphanage, playing games like "red light/green light" and living what could be considered a comfortable, ghost-free life. She's adopted and grows up away from her young playmates, but they remain in her thoughts, and as an adult, she and her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) decide to buy the now-closed orphanage. The couple moves into the imposing home with their son Simón (Roger PrÃncep) and plans to take in a few special-needs children.
Soon after moving in, Simón finds a new "imaginary friend" in a nearby cave and asks if he can invite him back to the house to stay. Laura, apparently having never seeing a horror movie, agrees. Then, a very real and very suspicious old lady named Benigna (Montserrat Carulla) shows up claiming to be a social worker. Laura, however, finds her snooping around late one night and begins to suspect that the orphanage holds a secret.
Furthering her suspicion is the fact that Simón suddenly has six "new friends," one of whom reveals to him that he's adopted.
Simon is understandably upset and after a big argument with his mom, he suddenly disappears.
Months pass, and Laura is convinced that Simon's ghostly friends took him. Carlos and the police, however, fear she's had a breakdown. She does some research and uncovers secrets to a tragedy that occurred at the orphanage after she was adopted, but can that lead her to her son? Her husband sets a date when he wants to move out of the house, and Laura must confront the inhabitants of the house one last time to find Simón.
The End Product
Director Juan Antonio Bayona, whose previous experience behind the camera has been primarily limited to music videos, shows remarkable restraint compared to a lot of American video directors who make the jump to feature films and throw in every special effects bell and whistle they can find. He crafts a classic, classy feel with simple scares that feed off primal fears of the unknown -- similar to the Nicole Kidman hit The Others (helmed, perhaps not coincidentally, by another Spanish director, Alejandro Amenábar).
Some might compare The Orphanage to Guillermo del Toro's child-in-peril hit Pan's Labyrinth or his earlier haunted orphanage flick The Devil's Backbone -- largely because of del Toro's involvement as producer here -- but The Orphanage actually has more in common with the 2004 French film Saint Ange. There are some striking similarities between the two: the gothic orphanage setting, the multiple child ghosts, the lead character's maternal issues and the conflict of perception versus reality.
Perhaps because I'd seen Saint Ange, some elements of The Orphanage didn't strike me as completely fresh, and I can't say that it's as scary as some people make it out to be, but if the scares don't work for you, the humanity that lies at the story's core should. It's the story of a mother's love, a loss of childhood innocence and the determination to follow one's heart.
The Skinny
- Acting: B+ (Rueda carries the film with her distraught performance.)
- Direction: A- (Bayona is able to create a tenable sense of dread without relying on cheap scares.)
- Script: B+ (An effective mystery, although there are a few questions left up in the air.)
- Gore / Effects: B (Very little cause for gore or special effects, but what there is, is handled solidly.)
- Overall: B+ (One of the top horror releases of 2007.)
The Orphanage is directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and is rated R for some disturbing content.