The Orphanage Review
Thanks for checking out our orphanage review.
General Idea
The Orphanage centers on a Laura (Belén Rueda) who purchases her beloved childhood orphanage with dreams of restoring and reopening the long abandoned facility as a place for disabled children. Once there, Laura discovers that the new environment awakens her sons imagination, but the ongoing fantasy games he plays with an invisible friend quickly turn into something more disturbing. Upon seeing her family increasingly threatened by the strange occurrences in the house, Laura looks to a group of parapsychologists for help in unraveling the mystery that has taken over the place. (synopsis from IMDB)
The Good
I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan of thrillers. They usually bore me and I don’t like to waste my time being uncomfortable. The Orphanage bucked the trend however and kept my interest the whole way through and anxiously watched as the story unravelled. I thought the story was very well written with great call backs to subtle hints, and a couple of quality twists. The characters were fantastic and as the drama unfolds you start to see the weight of the events in their disposition.
I judge films based on genre and if they did what they set out to do. The Orphanage certainly fit the bill for thriller, I had the pleasure of seeing this film at a packed house opening night at the Arclight and everyone was hootin’ hollerin’ and throwing their arms up because the hell was being scared out of them. I felt a little less like a pussy because everyone was scared along with me at the “shock” points.
Director Juan Antonio Bayona did a great job directing the living and the surroundings, and really was able to creep the hell out of you with a standard hallway shot as your mind fills it with every sort of specter and phantom. The ability of Juan Antonio Bayona combined with the outstanding original core by Fernando Velázquez really came together to instill an atmosphere of terror and suspense. The score in this film was perfect and primed your fear to the point where even the most mundane of objects started to cause suspicion and every dark corner became a potential threat.
The Bad
As far as thrillers go, this film was right on the money, and I do not have much to complain about. At a running time of 110 minutes the film did seem a little long, and could have been trimmed down. Near the end of the second act, the film started to drag on a bit and a more liberal cut would have been appreciated. The action picks up quickly in the third act however and the movie ends very strong. Other than this, nothing stood out as a bother to me.
Overall
The Orphanage is a very good atmospheric thriller/ghost story that should please those that enjoy the genre and those (like myself) that do not. I found myself legitimately freaked out and was letting forth all sorts of outbursts as I was shocked, scarred and creeped out of my silence. I recommend seeing this film in a theatre setting; it is comforting and down right fun to be scarred in a room full of strangers. You become comrades as you fight the fear together and it makes for an outstanding theatre going experience. This was an excellent film and give it an 8/10, if you see it - let us know what you think.
1. haole replies at 14th January 2008, 9:43 pm :
I’ve noticed a trend with Spanish films Guilllermo del Toro is involved with (Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, and he produced The Orphanage) they all involve children, and there comes a point towards the end when you say to yourself “No matter what happens, this can’t end well.” I think these films are great because they don’t have a conventional ending that you see 5 minutes into the film. Though this ending was the most messed up happy ending I’ve ever witnessed. Can’t say more without giving it away.
2. alfie replies at 15th January 2008, 2:47 am :
I am glad to see you enjoyed this film doug. I loved it. horror is my favourite genre of all and I consider rather desensitised so nothing pleases me more than when a film is able to scare me and i have not been this scared during a film in a long long time.
The final act had me so tense i was considering walking out of the room..it just pushed all my right scare buttons
SEMI SPOILER BUT ONE THAT WON’T MAKE SENSE UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN IT SO NOT A REAL SPOILER REALLY BUT I REALLY DON;T WANT TO BUM ANYONE OUT…
when she turns to the wall and begins playing the “game” i was absolutely shitting myself. it scares me just writing about it
SEMI SPOILER OVER
…then it goes from being terrifying to so fucking heartbreaking i will admit i wound up bawling my eyes out.
I absolutelt loved this movie. the performances are top notch…the director knows what he is doing.
I do agree that the middle section does drag a wee bit but once the last act kicks off it is a great experiance.
3. Bishop replies at 15th January 2008, 7:07 am :
This movie was the one movie that I yelled out “Motherfucker!” at the top of my lungs accidentally. Thankfully, it was drowned out by the screams of everyone else at the same time so I didn’t feel quite so crass.
Watching it, as a parent, broke my heart though. This is one of those films that I am very glad I knew next to nothing about when I went it.