‘The Orphanage’ is the first full length feature film from the director Juan Antonio Bayona. It is filmed in the Spanish language and is also set in Spain. Strictly speaking the title for this film is actually ‘El Orfanato’, but the title has been kindly translated and is therefore given the name of ‘The Orphanage’ for those of us that speak the English language. The film works largely on a cerebral level, it does however contain a certain degree of visceral involvement but when viewing bear in mind that most of the scares here are on a psychological level. Some of my favourite horror films of all time work on a psychological basis though, so I was greatly enthused about viewing this film and I’ve got to say that ‘The Orphanage’ certainly didn’t disappoint.
Right from the offset the film has an extremely creepy feel about it. As the credits roll children’s hands are shown tearing off bits of wallpaper to reveal the names of those involved with the making of this film. The music that accompanies this is really quite chilling, immediately you feel a little concerned and yet the film has not even yet truly begun. Dark lighting is used during the opening as we hear the disconcerting cries of ‘Mama’. A child can hear noises outside of his bedroom, nothing particularly out of the ordinary and yet from the fear on his face we start to feel that this is perhaps no laughing matter. Aside from asking a lot of questions of his mother though, nothing out of the ordinary happens at this point and instead the film merely continues and although we learn that the child has imaginary friends; at the age that he is this is really not too unusual.
The young child is named Simon, and as it turns out he is actually adopted by the two people he believes to be his parents. The films name becomes apparent in that the house the film is set in was once a small orphanage. The boys adoptive mother Laura lived in the orphanage as a child and always wanted to go back there to the place she grew up and so she now lives in the old orphanage with her partner Carlos and adopted son Simon. Simon has an illness and his adoptive parents are therefore very protective of him, they want the best for the young boy and clearly care a lot about him. This is no ordinary child, he is troubled and this was something that was made incredibly clear right from the very first moment that the film began.
Sound plays a large part in this film, the lighting is often incredibly dark and mysterious and the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound heightens the frightening nature of this film. Due to the use of sound here the tension builds and builds to breaking point. Never quite do you know where the film will go next and the way in which sound is used here makes for an extremely disturbing and truly frightening viewing experience. As a house the old orphanage is extremely impressive, it is large and mysterious and is an excellent location for this film to take place. Every element of this film comes together perfectly, making for an extremely spine chilling tale. What I love most about ‘The Orphanage’ is that long after you have finished viewing it, you are still left thinking about it and the creepy nature of the film continues to haunt you. Often when I watch a film I tend not to take it all in, some of it drifts over me while I think of and in fact sometimes do other things. What’s great about this film being in Spanish is that this requires of you to pay very close attention to what is going on and continually follow the subtitles in order to stick with the film (unless of course you’re quite fluent in Spanish).
As the film is so psychologically scary and does require for a lot of thought power, I would say that it’s one of those films that can be watched multiple times and on each and every viewing you will almost certainly take more and more away from the experience. As you walk away having witnessed ‘The Orphanage’ you start to ponder over the film that you have just viewed, gaining valuable insight into what went on in the film and why. It’s not simple, it’s this though that makes the film such compelling viewing. Visceral horror films portraying much blood and gore can be great for a bit of light entertainment, but ‘The Orphanage’ goes far beyond this and impresses hugely as it does so. The lighting is always dark, and the musical score is excellent as it shocks and soars; never do you truly know where the film will go next, and the journey that you are taken on here is led largely by the music.
It is not strictly a horror film I would say, it is in fact more of a haunting ghost tale; a chilling film which focuses on contact with the spirit world. Mediumship has always been a great area of interest to me, no one can ever truly say as to what happens after we die. Is that the end, or does our spirit live on and is there in fact an afterlife? Obviously I can’t honestly answer this question, I may have an opinion about it but it is purely that; my personal opinion. Films involving contact with the spirit world I always seek avidly to watch, and although often done badly when they are done well they can be incredibly impressive. I would say that ‘The Orphanage’ is the best film I have seen that focuses on contact with the dead, it’s a truly frightening film and never does it disappoint. It’s not comical like some films of this sort can be, but instead is deadly serious and really does make you think long and hard about the events that are taking place within the film.
In terms of acting performances, once more I would say that ‘The Orphanage’ is excellent. Young actor Roger Príncep is brilliant as the seven year old Simon, he is hugely believable in his part and should surely have a great future ahead of him. This was the first film for Roger Príncep, he is however currently involved in a second and given that he is only nine years old he certainly seems to be starting his career extremely young; by the time he hits his teenage years he shall already be a veteran of the film world it would seem. Although the character of Simon is extremely central to the plot, it is Belén Rueda as Laura that is given the task of carrying much of this film and I must say that she does an excellent job indeed. She certainly isn’t lacking in confidence, and given that much of the film we spend with her it was obviously important that she were perfect for the part. I can’t fault this casting choice whatsoever, everything is handled well by her and she takes all that is asked of her as an actress here completely in her stride. Always Belén Rueda is impressive here, I fail to find any fault with her part whatsoever. Whilst the part that Fernando Cayo plays is quite important in that he is Simon’s adoptive father, his part within this film is on the grand scale of things quite small. For this I am really quite grateful, his smug face reminds me of Neil Fitzmaurice who plays Jeff in in the hit TV series ‘Peep Show’ and had he played more of an important part in this film then this could well have ruined it all for me.
If you liked films such as ‘The Sixth Sense’ and ‘The Skeleton Key’, then I’d say that you’ll love this. It’s far better than those two films put together; ‘The Orphanage’ is a spooky psychological thriller that will shock you at every twist and turn that it takes. To call this film unpredictable would be a huge understatement, if you claim to have known what direction ‘The Orphanage’ would take next then you my friend are a liar. There is no way that anyone could possibly know what twists ‘The Orphanage’ will behold, unless of course you happen to read an entire plot breakdown somewhere but that doesn’t really count. I would say that only once a year if you’re lucky will a film emerge that is genuinely scary, ‘The Orphanage’ is one of those films however and will most certainly have you on the edge of your seat and crying for your ‘Mama’ just as the character of Simon does in the opening scenes of the film.
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UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
