Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, El Orfanato is a thrilling horror film built in the vein of Henry James’ Turn of the Screw. Married couple Laura (Belen Rueda) and Carlos (Fernando Cayo) take their adopted son, Simon, (Roger Princep) back to the creepy mansion that served as an orphanage when Laura was a little girl. The parents are keen to open the mansion for children with disabilities. Simon starts seeing invisible playmates throughout the mansion, in particular a hooded boy called Tomas. At the opening day party Simon suddenly disappears and the film then slides into the horror: a horror that is exquisitely executed with intelligence and a richly detailed history of the mansion’s former child residents and their creepy Nanny, Benigna (Montserrat Carula). When Laura calls in the medium Aurora (the always brilliant Geraldine Chaplin) to help in the search for Simon, the film twists yet again into a treatise on what’s real and unreal. Everything about El Orfanato works. The acting is superb and the atmosphere Bayona creates will keep you scared, riveted and entranced throughout. Highly recommended.
My rating 9 out of 10.
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