Tags
2000's, Belen Rueda, Foreign Language Film, Geraldine Chaplin, Horror, Juan Antonio Bayona, Psychological Horror, The Orphanage
Film Title
The Orphanage
Director
Juan Antonio Bayona
Cast
- Belen Rueda as Laura
- Fernando Cayo as Carlos
- Roger Princep as Simon
- Mabel Rivera as Pilar
- Montserrat Carulla as Benigna
- Geraldine Chaplin as Aurora
A chilling, emotionally involving and nerve-shredding Spanish horror film , The Orphanage will have you on the edge of your seat as you try to piece it together. Yet unlike some horror films that don’t focus on character development, The Orphanage furthers our feelings towards the characters because of the performances, especially from Belen Rueda. This adds to the emotional engagement the audience feels as we watch a mother desperately trying to cling to her sanity whist attempting to find her missing child. Also, it doesn’t rely on gratuitous gore to create scares, it instead uses moments of foreboding silence and exemplary lighting to generate effective chills. Anyway back to my review of it.
37-year-old Laura grew up in an orphanage that overlooked the sea along with five other children and a carer. Years later, she returns to the orphanage with her husband Carlos and young son Simon. Her plans are to open it as a facility for disabled children. Her son Simon has recently claimed to have imaginary friends, Laura thinks nothing of it only that Simon is just lonely and has created them as a distraction for his boredom. Not long after arriving Simon claims to have made a new friend called Tomas while he was exploring a nearby cave, Tomas is shown to be a boy with a patterned sack covering his face. These events coincide with the arrival of a creepy “social worker” named Benigna. She questions Laura about Simon being adopted and how unbeknownst to the sweet child he is HIV positive. Incensed she sends the creepy old woman away. This is when events begin to take a sinister tone around the old orphanage. After an argument with Simon and an “encounter” with his imaginary friend, Laura and Carlos discover that he has gone missing. And so begins a frantic search that leads to dark secrets hidden in the eponymous orphanage and shocks a plenty. Despite people’s insistence that Simon is dead, the determined Laura refuses to believe it and delves deep into the murky history surrounding her former experiences at the place. Are the imaginary friends that Simon spoke of real? Or is it something more plausible than that? Is the threat supernatural or physical? Prepare for scares as The Orphanage takes you on a fright-filled trip that will leave you flawed and reeling by the end.
Juan Antonio Bayona conjures up a shadowy and malevolent atmosphere through the use of music and the seemingly ordinary appearing very different. He excellently blends the line between supposedly innocent children’s stories and reality to create a deeply chilling film. The main reason the film is so effective is the powerful performance of Belen Rueda, who embodies the undying love and of a mother desperately looking for her child. In a small role, Geraldine Chaplin stars as a medium called in when the police can’t find the young boy. It is through the medium that secrets are unearthed as Laura refuses to give up on hope. The atmosphere created is palpable and chilling, making excellent use of long corridors, never-ending staircases and slamming doors in nods to The Innocents and The Others . What is also surprising is how relatable the material is and the way in which the audience responds emotionally to it. Most of the horror in the film is because of Laura’s never-ending search for her son and the pain it causes her, this is supremely staged and shows how a story can get deep under your skin without gore and excessive violence.
Chilling, nail-biting and surprisingly poignant, The Orphanage is a must see for fans of psychological horror and ghost stories in the gothic horror mould. Believe me you won’t be sitting comfortably once the film has finished.
Mark Walker said:
Absolutely outstanding film, Vinnie. This is the very best of recent horror film’s for me. Deeply emotional as well. I loved it.
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vinnieh said:
Yeah I’ve got to agree with you there, certainly very effective and emotionally gripping in equal measure.
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Natasha Harmer said:
Great review of a great film! 😀
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vinnieh said:
Thank you for the kind words, they are greatly appreciated.
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brockingmovies said:
I enjoyed your review and I especially agree with the last sentence. It’s been a while since I have seen the film, but the ending sticks with you.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the review. Yeah the ending definately leaves an impression.
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beautifulorange said:
Great review. This is a brilliant film… like you say, it really makes you care for the characters, which is rare in a horror film. I had tears in my eyes when they reveal what happened and how.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment. There really needs to be more horror films likes, as you say it is very sad.
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filmhipster said:
Nice review!! Completely agree, this film was phenomenal and deserves all the positive accolades that it gets.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, the film truly is phenomenal as you said. Glad you enjoyed reading the review.
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keith7198 said:
Nice review! I saw this for the first time a couple of months ago and thought it was pretty good. I gotta say with everything that I had heard I was expecting a different movie. I think that hindered my experience a tad. I just didn’t find it scary at all. I think a rewatch is in order.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, let me know your thoughts after giving it a rewatch.
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Terry Malloy's Pigeon Coop said:
Nice review mate. I’m not a fan of horror films as a rule but this is one of my favourites. I thinks that it actually has a good story behind it is what helps it stand out.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, yeah I like it when a horror film has a good story.
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CMrok93 said:
Good review Vinnie. This one didn’t scare me as much, but I will say that it does an exceptional job with old-school horror-troupes, and finds a way to give them new flavor. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, I often thought it resembled many old horror films.
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cindybruchman said:
I bet I would love it. I bet it would give me nightmares.
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vinnieh said:
If you’re a fan of old school horror films, then you’ll enjoy it. Yes it is very chilling and makes you think a long time after the credits have finished.
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cindybruchman said:
I’m as old school as they come. 🙂
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Tyson Carter said:
Great write up Vinnie!! A film I somehow still havent seen, one day soon I have to get to it 🙂
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, hope you get round to seeing it man.
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davecrewe said:
Good write-up of an excellent film. Your comparisons to “The Innocents” (which I only saw myself recently) are definitely apt. Also, SPOILERS:
I love that the film can be entirely interpreted as not involving any supernatural elements at all! It’s really cleverly constructed so that you can view it as a ghost story, or those elements to be the constructions of a damaged mind …or something in between the two. Could have easily been a gimmick but instead it’s just another clever layer in a well-constructed story.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, I love it when a film offere multiple interpretations, makes it so much more interesting.
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Paul S said:
I haven’t seen The Orphanage but from your review I think I’ll have to be in the right frame of mind when I do watch it.
It certainly sounds like it packs a punch!
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, it is a very effective film that is surprisingly poignant in parts. Hope you get to see it.
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Mark Hobin said:
One of my favorite horror films of the last 10 years. Glad you enjoyed it too!
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, it’s one of the most effective I’ve seen in a long time.
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mikeyb185 said:
The Orphanage is a wonderful film. Starts off really really scary and finishes with such a heartbreaking ending. Fantastic write up Vinnie
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, yeah I loved how it balanced emotion and horror in equally effective ways.
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lasttimeisaw said:
I watched this film at least four years ago, I can still sense the poignance of the ending, excellent article!
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, yeah the first time I watched it I couldn’t get the ending out of my head for ages.
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martin250 said:
Nicely written review. am not really into horror films because many of them have too much graphic violence. but i might give this one a try. However despite the good reviews, i have not seen it play on TV, pay per view, or blu ray.
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vinnieh said:
Hope you do, that’s surprising that it hasn’t been on Tv.
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emmakwall said:
This film scared me SO much. I hadn’t felt scared like that in a long time.
Great review!
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vinnieh said:
It was so chilling wasn’t it? But it had that really sad undertone to it and the ending devastated me.
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emmakwall said:
It was a very sad story really, for both Tomas and Joseph (can’t believe I remember their names!!!!)
But it scared the shit out of me!!!! I really do list it as one of the scariest films I’ve (personally) seen.
Very good film.
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vinnieh said:
I was frightened a lot after seeing it. I couldn’t sleep for days.
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emmakwall said:
I couldn’t sleep either haha and I’m not kidding. Mind you NOTHING beats when I watched The Ring for the first time. I think that haunted me for about a year!
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vinnieh said:
The Ring certainly made me look at static TV’s differently.
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vinnieh said:
If you liked The Orphanage, you might like this. https://vinnieh.wordpress.com/2014/02/02/julias-eyes/
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emmakwall said:
I’ve been meaning to watch this forever!
Is it as spooky? It’s the same actress isn’t it. I better check your review out 🙂
(did you hear your shout out???)
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vinnieh said:
Yeah, I think I just heard it.
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emmakwall said:
Good!
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vinnieh said:
At least it sounded like it, my computer sound has been playing up a bit.
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The Happy Horror said:
I love this movie. The Others is also really good. I’m always super afraid to go to sleep after watching a movie that deals with ghosts.
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vinnieh said:
I’m the same, I usually can’t sleep for a while after watching anything involving a haunting.
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