Friday, 31 October 2008

Film Review: 'The Orphanage"

Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona (Pan's Labyrinth)

I saw this film in Spain under the name 'El Orfanato' as it is a Spanish film with English subtitles. It's a spooky supernatural thriller about a woman, Laura, desperate to find her ill, missing son. 

Laura persuades her husband to buy the abandoned orphanage for disabled children that she grew up in. Simon, her son, has HIV and is also an orphan. When he comes to the house he makes 5 imaginary friends. Soon, strange noises are made in the house, a weird woman is seen wandering the grounds of the house and Simon is lead on a strange treasure hunt made by his imaginary friends. Laura wants to re-open the orphanage to a select few children who are ill just like her son. During the 'open day' at the orphanage, Laura notices her son is missing. After months of Simon missing, Laura still wants to find her son and dedicates her life researching te house, orphans and the mysterious woman she saw sneaking around the house. She eventually realises that Simon's freinds are ghosts of the children who used to live in the orphanage....
Any more will spoil the film!

i really enjoyed the film and got so carried away with the intense storyline, i didn't even get distracted by the subtitles despite at the start i was contemplating wether or not to watch the film beacause of them. it's full of jumpy scenes and is actually quite scary. you really had to pay attention to the dialogue as its a film you will not understand unless you really listen (or in my case read!).

It is well worth watching, brilliantly casted, and an all round cleverly written thriller film!




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