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'The Orphanage' movie review |
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Written by Mary F. Pols
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Thursday, 03 January 2008 |
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Just about every woman who finds out she’s pregnant or about to receive a long-awaited infant through adoption immediately buys herself a copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” It’s a handy book, but here’s an off-the-wall suggestion for preparing yourself for motherhood psychologically: Watch “The Orphanage” (“El Orfanato”), the new horror thriller from Spain.
It’s a devastating testimony to the limitless bounds of maternal love, wrapped in a smart, spooky film that had me cringing and hiding my eyes, even on a second viewing, when I already knew all of director Juan Antonio Bayona’s tricks.
The film was produced by “Pan’s Labyrinth” director Guillermo del Toro, and it’s likely to appeal to the same audiences, although I’d argue it’s emotionally richer and more surprising. “The Orphanage” presents itself in the neat, familiar package of the happy-family-moves-into-haunted-house genre, and then turns that convention on its head. Laura (Belen Rueda) and her doctor husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) return to the spectacular seaside home where Laura spent most of her early childhood as an orphan.
This well-intentioned couple plan to turn the rambling house into a home for disabled children, not quite a modern-day orphanage but a refuge for those who perhaps present too much of a challenge for their own parents. Laura and Carlos have one child, Simon (Roger Princep), who has his own special history (not to be revealed here).
Like children in so many other horror films, the dreamy, mischievous Simon acquires some imaginary friends, the kind that play tricks on the new occupants. Then a strange woman (Montserrat Carulla) knocks on Laura’s door. She introduces herself as a social worker named Benigna (which means “kind”), but the name doesn’t exactly suit; she’s like one of those classic David Lynch characters who inexplicably frightens you to death without donning any costume creepier than a severe expression and a pair of thick eyeglasses (Bayona consistently gets big scares from small places; children in vintage school uniforms had me shaking).
Screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchez, who, like Bayona, is a relative novice at this movie business, drops clues, but on the whole plays his cards close to his chest and the film’s mysteries unravel slowly. When Simon disappears, right out from under his parents’ eyes, it’s not at all obvious what’s become of him, or whether the supernatural or something rooted in the real world is to blame.
Laura, encouraged by a meeting with a medium (played with chilly grace by Geraldine Chaplin), starts believing in the supernatural — where there is hope — while Carlos decides that Simon can’t be found. It’s to Rueda’s credit that we head into the supernatural territory with Laura without looking back.
Critic says: A-
Rating: R for some disturbing content (in Spanish with subtitles)
Running time: 1 hr. 40 mins.
Starring: Belen Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Princep, Montserrat Carulla, Geraldine Chaplin
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