Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin

Laura 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 environmen...( read more  read more... )t awakens her son's 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.

Flixster Users

85% liked it

43,446 ratings

Critics

86% liked it

149 critics

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona

Release Date: December 28, 2007

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DVD Release Date: April 22, 2008

Stats: 12,126 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (12,126)


  • July 6, 2009
    Now this is the type of creepy movie that I like. I like there to be some scariness but that there's a mystery behind everything and you have to figure it out. I usually have to be in the mood for a foreign flick but I feel like having to read the subtitles didn't take anything a...( read more)way from the movie.
  • April 16, 2009
    I enjoyed it but kept getting the nagging feeling that I'd seen it all before...
  • March 28, 2009
    A rare type of film that can be creepy one moment and tender the next. Well-made and intriguing but it's not something I'll ever want to watch again for reasons I can't explain without ruining it.
  • March 1, 2009
    A great Spanish ghost story/thriller which I'm sure said it was directed by Guiilermo Del Toro? I saw the trailer and had to see this. It's very creepy at times, largely due to the spooky location. It's a very good story well told and directed. Reminded me of The Others, The 6th ...( read more)sense most of all, so if you like those you'll love this.
  • February 15, 2009
    Simon: Can my new friend come home to play with us.
    Laura: What is his name?
    Simon: Tomas.

    This is something you just do not see very often anymore, a damn good horror movie. It has tension, scares that are not the cheap jump kind, some creepy images, a good story, and well ...( read more)developed characters.

    This is a Spanish haunted house story, given the seal of approval by famed Mexican horror director Guillermo Del Toro, serving as executive producer for this film.

    The story involves a mid 30s woman, Laura, who has purchased the old house, which served as orphanage she grew up in, with the intention of using it as an orphanage once again. She moves with her husband Carlos and her adopted son Simon, who unfortunately was born with HIV.

    Simon has a wild imagination, leading him to create imaginary friends and play tricky games with himself. Soon after moving in and some questionable circumstances, Simon goes missing.

    Laura must not only deal with this, but also with the strange happenings going on in and around the house, which includes the creepy image of a boy in a very disturbing mask and a mysterious older woman.

    Simon's disappearance with no trace leads to the use of parapsychologists, despite Carlos disbelief in the supernatural, as well as Laura having to realize what had once gone on in the orphanage.

    The story is very well handled. Everything in this movie has a purpose. Elements are setup early on, only to be given significance later in the story that prove to be very effective.

    The lead actress, Belen Rueda, is very effective as Laura, as she must carry this movie, and does so in a very good way. The same goes for the supporting actors, who only add to Laura's character.

    The movie itself is very well handled. It takes some notes from other haunted house/ghost stories from films like The Shining, and makes it into its own. The camera work is very effective and not at all overdone. We hear all the different sounds, bumps, creaks, and all, staging very effective build ups for various scenes. There are almost no special effects for this film, and the R-rating is put to good use for a film like this. It's not overstuffed with gore, but it has a few frightening images.

    This really is one of the best actual horror movies I have seen in a very long time. It gave me a few chills (I'm a sucker against creepy kid movies), its well made, has good characters, good pay offs for the various setups, and does exactly what it should do - entertain the way this kind of movie should.

    Carlos: Here, take my necklace of St. Andrew.
    Laura: But you don't believe in that stuff.
    Carlos: Exactly. That's why you should have it.
  • November 20, 2009
    a good movie by director of pan's labriynth and hell boy series.
  • November 17, 2009
    A little overrated. The ghost story in this has been used a lot before in horror/thrillers (The Ring, Skeleton Key, The Others, Poltergeist, etc) and the missing child thing has also been done so many times (Flightplan, The Missing, The Forgotten and some more). So really, there'...( read more)s no point for those overwhelming good reviews. The beginning scenes were boring, all they had was just talking. It was not until the 40th minute when the son actually gets lost. The ghost boy we saw wasn't explained and even the existence of ghosts (how could see them?). I think this would've been a better film if it didn't have ghosts.

    This is an average film at best. Though, yes, the atmosphere, the acting, the direction, the music and many of the other technical stuff were brilliant, but they don't save a plot that's been done so many times. Oh yeah, the actress that played the main character (Laura) was amazing. She deserved a Golden Globe, at least. Very powerful acting.

    I see that this film has been labeled as horror mostly and even advertised as one, but it is actually a thriller (mystery/supernatural thriller) with some horror elements. And I liked how it was on the thriller side the most. And speaking of horror and thriller, in most parts of the film they neglected both genres. This film had a lot of drama (which was a little boring). Like, those beginning scenes.

    I thought the twist ending was so good. Very tragic and heart wrenching. And I think, it was the most original thing in the film. I think people should definitely watch this film for that depressing, yet amazing, twist ending. The twist really turned this film from bad to actually good/average. I was expecting a lame ending, though.
  • November 16, 2009
    El orfanato is too melodramatic for my tastes.
  • November 12, 2009
    Great movie! See also The Orphan!
  • November 11, 2009
    Bayona is helped by the name of Del Toro behind this flick. However, it may confuse audiences who are looking for a cool and scary, financially successful horror film, and those who are expecting an independent project. Independently of the fact that it borrows the already-famous...( read more) Asian formula, it has an invigorating atmosphere and most of the photography allows the scary proportions of El Orfatano to be enhanced.

    74/100

Critic Reviews


January 9, 2008
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Beautifully conceived and composed, it's eerie, sometimes frightening and surprisingly moving. full review

January 7, 2008
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

The film is less of a shocker than an adventure in anxiety, testing and twisting some of the classic studies in infantile curiosity. full review

January 7, 2008
Kurt Loder, MTV

...the movie leaves you feeling not simply wrung-out by shock and carnage, but genuinely spooked. full review

January 4, 2008
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Like the best of horror films, it gets under your skin not with gore or cheap jolts but with an unnerving, ever-building tension, and with images that remain with you long afterward, interrupting your... full review

January 4, 2008
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

Ms. Rueda is such a gifted actor that she keeps this movie alive through thick and thin. full review

January 4, 2008
Claudia Puig, USA Today

In a season filled with dark-themed films, it stands out as an elegantly mounted, surprisingly humane but terrifying horror thriller well worth seeing. full review

January 2, 2008
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

The Orphanage a diverting, overwrought ghost story from Spain, relies on basic and durable horror movie techniques.

December 28, 2007
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A superior ghost story. full review

September 19, 2007
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

A ghost story in which character motivation is haphazard and scares as scarce as narrative logic. full review

View more El Orfanato (The Orphanage) reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • jonathanstephenson
    June 10, 2008
    El Orfanato (The Orphanage) Hi Alexander, this sounds like a movie I would like very much, thanks for your review!
  • maloube
    May 20, 2008
    Rente ayer la pelicula y me ha encantado. No me esperaba tanto! Si me fue un poco predecible en algunos momentos, pero no dejo de sorprenderme. Mas que una pelicula de horror y/o suspenso, es una viva representacion de lo que es cine y muy bien hecho.
  • BurymeinBlack3
    March 19, 2008
    Actually Lovecyn4eve I agree it slowed down a bit but it was a beautiful ending showing that she eventually had to die to get her child back and that the supernatural were looking for someone to take care of them. That scene of Thomas walking towards her I must say that was quite frightening that will be in a dream of mine soon I'd say not good.
  • GhostHunterGuy
    March 3, 2008
    This was an amazing movie. I loved it. I have to say the scariest part was honestly the home videos. They were jsut freaky in their own way.
  • sofiahauffe92
    March 2, 2008
    me parecio un film exelente!! muy bunas actuaciones, un escenario magnifico y la trama en si.. dios!! super buena, y con lo del final, por dios!! maravilloso uno nunca se imagina que ese seria el final! y estoy impresionada por que de verdad que las peliculas españolas no son de mi gran agrado pero esta de verdad que me dejo boca abierta
  • lovecyn4ever
    January 8, 2008
    Beautifully shot,great atmosphere,stunning score with sound effects & suspenseful moments that makes it a creepy ghost film but with a plot hole & a weak ending.I was expecting a shocking finale & great twist.The film manage to get the audience jumping at times which is a good thing.
  • sarness
    November 4, 2007
    esta pelicula esta muy bien!
  • dafne323
    November 1, 2007
    me ha encantado la pelicula!esta genial y consigue que al final de la peli la gente se quede pensando a cerca de ella.enorabuena belen!
  • linkiniana
    October 28, 2007
    A mi me ha encantado. Belen me ha sorprendido y mucho!!! Una de las pelis que mas destacan españolas. ^^ Me ha encantado.

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