El orfanato (2007)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Juan Antonio Bayona

Writer:

Sergio G. Sánchez (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Un cuento de amor. Una historia de terror (A tale of love. A story of horror)

Plot:

A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, where she opens an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.

Plot Keywords:

Orphanage | Children | Hiv Positive | Hiv | Adopted Son

Awards:

31 wins & 34 nominations

Cast

Belén Rueda	...	Laura
Fernando Cayo	...	Carlos
Roger Príncep	...	Simón
Mabel Rivera	...	Pilar
Montserrat Carulla	...	Benigna
Andrés Gertrúdix	...	Enrique
Edgar Vivar	...	Prof. Leo Bálaban
Óscar Casas	...	Tomás
Mireia Renau	...	Laura niña
Georgina Avellaneda	...	Rita
Carla Gordillo	...	Martín
Alejandro Camps	...	Víctor
Carmen López	...	Alicia
Óscar Lara	...	Guillermo
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Aurora

Also Known As:

The Orphanage (UK) (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing content.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Mexico | Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:18A | Spain:13 | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:PG | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Brazil:14 | Denmark:11 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Taiwan:R-12 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:16 | Chile:Y7 | Malaysia:18PL | UK:15 | Portugal:M/12 | New Zealand:R13 | Australia:MA | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Czech Republic:12 | France:-12

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Esta Vivo! Laboratorio de Nuevos Talentos

Trivia:

Spain's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008).

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Laura is watching the old films, when we see one of the shots of Tomas, his eye hole is on the wrong side. In the next shot, it is on the right side again.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Spanish Movie (2009)

Intelligent, engrossing old-fashioned horror story.

I was lucky enough to see one of the first ever screenings of this Spanish horror film last week during the Leeds' International Film Festival. The Orphanage is the first film from director Juan Antonio Bayona and was produced by his long-time friend Guillermo Del Toro, director of my film of last year, Pan's Labyrinth.

The Orphanage tells the story of Laura who returns to the abandoned orphanage where she was raised in order to re-open it as a home for children with disabilities. Along with her husband and adopted son Simon who is HIV Positive, she prepares the orphanage to receive its new residents but all is not as it seems, and steadily the sins of the past begin to resurface through a series of ghostly happenings.

A solid old-fashioned ghost story that is genuinely frightening without resorting to lashings of gore or cheap shocks, The Orphanage is the best horror film of 2007 so far and certainly shows Hollywood the true definition of suspense after the laughable '1408'. If you like your films dark and brimming with mystery then this is an absolute must-see.